Asean to promote nuclear energy, solar power

Southeast Asian leaders will promote the use of civilian nuclear power, along with other alternative energy sources, when they meet in Singapore next week, a draft statement obtained yesterday said.
Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will also agree to establish a "regional nuclear safety regime" to ensure that plutonium, a key ingredient for making atomic weapons, does not fall into the wrong hands.
A draft of an Asean Declaration on Environmental Sustainability, obtained by AFP, said the leaders will agree "to take concrete measures to promote the use of renewable and alternative energy sources such as solar, hydro, wind, tide, biomass, biofuels and geothermal energy."
They will also support "civilian nuclear power" for interested countries -- a move which environmental campaigners see as worrying.
But the draft says Asean will ensure "safety and safeguards that are of current international standards and environmental sustainability".
Heads of state and government from the 10-member Asean bloc are to sign the document next Tuesday during their annual summit.
Summit host Singapore has said it wants climate change to be the focus of the meeting, instead expected to be dominated by rogue ASEAN member Myanmar's deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in September.
The document commits Asean states to implement environmentally sustainable practices, improve cooperation to fight trans-boundary pollution and to take action against illegal logging.
Weak law enforcement to control the use of fire for clearing agricultural land in Asean's biggest member, Indonesia, has been identified as a main cause of the haze that blankets wide swathes of the region each year.
Asean leaders will also pledge to improve energy efficiency, reduce the loss of biodiversity in the region and halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2010, according to the draft.