UBON RATCHATHANI, 21 March 2011 (NNT) – The Energy Ministry has stressed to a group of activists that the Government has not decided on building nuclear power plants in the country while agreeing that public safety must be prioritized.
Approximately 100 supporters of an activist group called the Thai Network against Nuclear Power Plants today converged at Laithong Hotel in the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, where Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul was giving a special lecture concerning the role of the Office of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
In the midst of a widespread health scare caused by radiation leakage from nuclear reactors in Japan, the group’s gathering was to protest the construction of a nuclear power plant in Sirindhorn district of the province allegedly included in the Government’s Power Development Plan to be implemented in the next 5-6 years.
MD Wannarat personally accepted a rejection letter from the network while clarifying that only a feasibility study had been conducted on the nuclear power plant concept and no conclusion had been made. He also revealed that the Energy Ministry had decided to postpone the matter indefinitely after witnessing the catastrophe in Japan, reasoning that safety issues must be thoroughly considered first.
According to the Minister, besides nuclear power, there are many other sources of alternative energy available for Thailand, such as biofuel, water, wind and sunlight.
