SINGAPORE: As the war in the Middle East disrupts global energy flows, Southeast Asia is quietly accelerating plans to explore nuclear power, a shift driven not just by fuel insecurity, but also by surging demand from data centres.
On Friday (March 27), Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Amar Fadillah Yusof said in a statement that Malaysia needs to assess the potential and feasibility of nuclear energy.
He announced the appointment of MyPOWER Corporation as Malaysia’s Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organisation.
He said the need for nuclear energy is influenced by “geopolitical uncertainty as well as instability in fuel supply and prices.”
Mr Fadillah also said MyPOWER Corporation, under the guidance of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) framework, will assess policy, regulation, and stakeholder engagement.
Meanwhile, in Singapore Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng in mid-March assured that the city-state’s energy supply is secure, with Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow’s said concurring with him on March 26.
However, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has said that Singapore is “building up capabilities to seriously study the potential deployment of nuclear energy.” So far, Singapore has invested S$150 million toward this endeavour, and the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative was designated as an institute in July 2025.
As Southeast Asia has arguably become the most vulnerable region in terms of energy supply in the wake of the war in the Middle East, a number of countries are hastening their plans for nuclear power options.
Russia is supporting two nuclear power projects in Vietnam, and Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines are also endeavouring to tap into nuclear power.
Indonesia intends to build two small modular reactors by 2034, after announcing in 2025 that it had added nuclear power to its energy plan. By 2037, Thailand aims to have 600 megawatts of nuclear generating capacity, saying that nuclear power is a solution for the growing demand for affordable energy.
The Philippines, meanwhile, has had a nuclear power plant since the 1970s, but has never used it. In 2025, however, the country announced plans to integrate nuclear power and set 2032 as a target start date.
Nuclear energy has never been produced in any country in Southeast Asia, but the disruption to the oil and gas supply due to the ongoing Gulf war has hastened plans to diversify energy sources.
Data centers
But part of the reason for the push for nuclear power is the proliferation of data centres in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, there are more than 2,000 such centres, an AP report said on March 26, with many more data centres planned.
The report cited Malaysia’s ambitions to be the computing hub in the region, with investments and interest from Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia, among other major tech companies.
As energy security and digital infrastructure become intertwined, nuclear power is no longer a distant idea for Southeast Asia. It is becoming part of the region’s long-term survival strategy. /TISG
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