Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that the country has no plan to build a nuclear power plant for present time, citing nuclear disasters in Ukraine and Japan.
He said that it was a misunderstanding that a neighboring country (Thailand) reportedly said that he allowed the construction of a nuclear power plant in Koh Kong province.
“One asked to conduct a feasibility study for a nuclear power plant in Koh Kong province, but I did not allow it,” the premier said at a graduation ceremony of students at Asia-Europe University. “It is not the right time for Cambodia to build it.”
Cambodia’s capacity has not reached the level of building the nuclear power plant, he said, adding that even Indonesia has not yet reached that level.
His clarification was made after The Bangkok Post of Thailand reported on Oct. 10 that Thai Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha expressed concern over Hun Sen’s plan to build a nuclear power plant in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province adjacent to Thailand’s Trat province.
Hun Sen said that neighboring countries have their rights to voice their concerns because if there is an explosion, it will not only affect Cambodia, but also damage others in the region.
The premier also cited the world’s two worst nuclear incidents. One was the catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred in April, 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine and the other was Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in March last year.
