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B.A.R.C.-479 I^R'WW GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION NUCLEAR POWER PROSPECTS IN THE MEKONG BASIN* by K. T. Thomas and N. S. Sunder Rajan Wutc Treatment Division BHA6HA ATOMIC RESEARCH CENTRE BOMBAY, INDIA J970 B.A.R.C.-479 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION NUCLEAR POWER PROSPECTS IN THE MEKONG BASIN* K.T. Thomas and N.S. Sunder Rajan Waste Treatment Division BHABHA ATOMIC RESEARCH CENTRE BOMBAY, INDIA 1970 NUCLEAR POMIEli PllOSPECTS IN THE MEKONG BASIN* by K.T, Thomas and N.S. Sunder Rajr.n. The four lower Mekong countries, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and the Tlenublic of Vietnam that share the nekonp river - probably one of tho largest natural resources in South East \sia - have cnrnon problems of dcvolo->- ment. Economy of these countries is mainly based on agriculture, the irvlustri;ii base being very small. The per capita consumption of electricity, in this region in the year 1065 varied frora a hiffh of 46.0 kwh in Thailand to a low of about 6.1 kwh in Laos, These figures can be compared to 7*5,5 kwh in India and 4800 kwh in the United States during the sane year. The main load contn.- of power consumption in the region is located around Greater Bangkok in Thailand where there has been an upsurge in the development of industries in the recent past. Except for local transmission and distribution net works which are in existence, there are no interconnecting national or regional i;rids in the area, 'Hie status of electrical poirer development in the area, and a classified break—up of installed capacities are presented in tables 1 and 2. As can be seen from these tables, the electrical power industry in the region is still in its initial stages of development* In particular, the bases of electrical >ower industry in Laos arid Cambodia are very snail and mainly dependent on diesel units of smll capaeitine (.3 to 10 MV>T), * Text of the paper presented by }fr. K.T. Thomas, Bhablin. .Uonic Research Centre, Trombay, Bombay, India, at the Mekong Third Engin- eering Seminar, Committee for Coordination of Investigations of the Loi?sr Mekong Basin, 10—2-'! November I960, Vientiane, Laos. «• 2 • — TABLE 1 (l 2) Status of Electrical Power in the Lower Mekong BasinN *" Country- Year Installed Generated Increase over Per capita capacity energy previous year kwh MW Mil. Icwh Thailand 1963 391.7 005,9 17,74 31,4 1064 548.3 1107.0 19,65 37,4 1965 559,2 1406,1 28,71 46.0 1966 541.0 1853,0 31.89 58,39 196T 687.0 2414.0 30.20 74.34 Laos* 1963 5.8 10.0 ff.6 4,1 1964 11.5 13.4 34.0 5,1 1965 10,2 16,6 23.9 6-1 Cambodia* 1963 38.7 98,8 16.,4 1964 1965 35.9 31.5 Republic* 1963 228*0 585.1 38.3' of 1064 325,3 -1.85 36.5 Vietnam 1965 326.0 5 ..0 -5.62 33,7 * For the years 1966 and 1967, data not available for Canbodia, Laos, and Republic of Vietnam,. + — indicate data not available, 1. United Nations Statistical Year Book (19G7) 2. Mekong Committee, stage I Interim Report, USBR (1968) -: 3 •- TABLE 2 Classification of Installed Generating Capacities Country Year Steam Hydro Diesel Gas Tot.il Mff Mff Mff Turbine W m Thailand 1963 219.8 _ _ 141.9 mm «• 391-7 1964 259,8' 140*0 148.5 548.3 1965 259.8 146.3 153.1 550.2 1967 234,3 302,9 140«9 687.1 Laos 1963 - - 5,8 - - 5,8 1964 _ _ - - 11.3 0.2 11,5 1965 - - 10.0 0.2 10,2 Cnmliodia 1963 3.0 — —. 35,7 _ _ 38.7 1965 .3,0 32,9 - - 35.9 Hepublic 1963 49.0 83,9 95.1 - - 228.0 of 1084 49,0 163,8 112,5 - - 325.3 Vietnam 1965 53,2 163,8 96,5 12.5 326,0 1. United Nations Statistical Year Book (1067) —•'• 4 i — installed mainly to serve load centres located around large towns and cities in these countries. More than 70$ of generated electrical energy in Laos and Cambodia is distributed in the general vicinity of Vientiane and Prorapenh, The power system in Thailand is comparatively better developed and has at present a doubling rate of about three years. The high annual growth rate of more than 30^ in electrical power production is due to many fuetors, The most important one is the snail base of power consuming industries, Any addition to the industrial load or extension of the existing n0T,er systero represents a large increase in the load denandn A.3 the base becomes larger the load growth rate usually reduces gradually. The other factors are the rising standard of living, rapid industrial development, and artificial effects on economy imposed by the present unsettled conditions in the region. The total installed capacity amounted to 10 W in Laos and nearly 36 MWT in Cambodia in the year 1965, There were no interconnections between the various diesel units installed in the countries till 1964, Only a rudi- mentary network based on 6,6 kV lines was presents This is gradually being replaced by a 15 kV network, In Thailand, th cotal installed capacity in 1967 was 687 Mff. Out of this 44$ was from hydroelectric stations. The largest station in the network is the Yanhee hydro station (Units lf2t3 and 4) with 280 Mff total installed capacity. This operates in parallel with North Bangkok Thermal Station having a total installed capacity of 150 MW (units 1 and 2), a 230 kV transmission net work interconnecting the two stations „ The estimated future electrical requirements of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia are presented in Tables 3,4 and 5, Figures lf2 and 3 are graphical representations of these requirements. Long term projections of future demands of electricity have been carried out by the concerned governments with the cooperation of various international agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (tJSAID), Economic Commission for Asia nod the Far East (ECAFE) and its subsidiary agencies, etc- and also some private concerns with expertise in the field of electrical power development. For Thailand, an electric power study team conducted a survey of the country's electrical resources and requirements under a contract 3, Thailand Electric Power Study (1986) TABLE 3 2,3,4 Estimated Electrical Bequirement of Thailand Year 1968 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Gross generation 2,700 4,100 8,790 14,600 22,700 32,430 47,738 75,926 required million kwh Average annual 24,4 23.2 16.5 10.7 9.2 8.76 3.0 lln9 growth rate $ Peak demand 606 898 1,840 2,940 4,440 6,170 9,018 14420.0 I (IB) en Annual load 50.9 52,1 54.6 56,6 58.3 60,0 60,0 60.0 T factor $ 2. Mekong Committee, Stage I Interim Report, Pa- Kfong Project (l968) 3. Thailand Electric Power Study, USAID report (l9C6) 4. Committee for the Coordination of Invest!Rations of the lower Mekong Basin, Annual Report (1968) TABLE 4 2,4 Estimated Electrical Ilequirement of Laos Year 1968 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Gross generation 48,376 80,167 170,460 300,090 454,676 663,530 938,227 lr315,9b0 required 1000 kwh Average annual 17 20 16.45 12.12 8.45 7_30 7.40 7.10 growth rate % Peak demand 12.2 20.1 30.7 65.8 95,8 135O8 187,9 260.7 Annual load 45.3 45,6 49.0 52J) 54=2 55.8 57,0 57.6 factor $ 2. Melconpr Committee, Stag's I Interim Report, Pa - Mong Project (1968) 4. Committee for the Coordination of Investigations of the lower Mekong Da3in Annual Report (tf?68) TABLE 5 Estimated Electrical Requirement of Cambodia4, Year 1968 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Gross generation 245,0 405.7 665,4 1034.1 1544.5 21597,2 3375,4 required million kvrh Average annual 13.6 12.8 11,1 10,0 9,74 9-38 growth rate ^ Peak demand 46.5 90.5 141.8 212.4 307u9 446.1 664.5 + - - Indicate data not available 4- Committee for the Coordination of Investigations of the Lower Mekong Bnsin, Annual Report (1068) -: 8 :- to USAID and the Royal Thailand Government in 1066 . The requirements, as envisaged by the team for the period 1068 to 85, have been further proiected to the year 2000 , As per these projections, the annual load growth rate, which is more than 3fK at present, with the expansion of the power system, is expected to gradually regress to around ±0$ in the late seventies and assume a steady rate of B% during the eighties and beyond. Projections of the requirements for Laos and Cambodia for the period 1968 - 2000 were obtained from the Mekong Secretariat* Aa can be seen from Tables 4 and 5, the overall requirement of installed capacities, 250 W in Laos and 625 Mff in Cambodia, in the next 30 years is rather small as compared to a requirement of about 13,800 Wi in Thailand for the sar.e period. Data on projections of electrical requirements for the Republic of Vietnam were not available. to meet the above requirements of electrical power in this region would have to be based on a realistic analysis of tiie natural re- sources - hydel, thermal and nuclear^ Thermal resources in the region available for power generation are meagre.