LONDON — As the nuclear renaissance comes to Southeast Asia, the countries of the region face an important turning point. Decisions taken today will help determine whether nuclear energy will play a positive role in their economic development, or whether a shadow of nuclear danger will accompany the benefits of this energy source.
There are worries about nuclear safety, the opacity about Myanmar's nuclear plans and its growing connections with North Korea, and the extent to which vulnerabilities in national trade controls have been exploited by outside states and non-state actors.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have an opportunity to reinforce global standards aimed at minimizing the safety, security and proliferation risks of nuclear energy. With ASEAN's tradition of cooperation, the region's relatively benign strategic environment and the nonproliferation norm epitomized in the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Bangkok Treaty), the region can develop strengthened arrangements for safe and secure nuclear energy that can be a model for others.