SINGAPORE – With round twenty years within the civil service and practically three years at the Energy Market Authority (EMA), Mr Low Xin Wei needs to make sure that the analysis coming from Singapore’s younger nuclear institute addresses the challenges of the nation’s energy transition.
In March 2026, he was appointed the primary chief government of the 10-month-old Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute (SNRSI) on the National University of Singapore (NUS). The institute advanced from a decade-long nuclear analysis initiative at NUS.
Mr Low, 45, envisions the institute as a technical adviser to policymakers, in order that they have the scientific understanding to make knowledgeable selections on tapping nuclear energy in Singapore.
Singapore has not made a determination to go nuclear, however is laying the groundwork to research it totally instead energy choice. It is forming dedicated nuclear teams at EMA and the National Environment Agency, and can be monitoring developments in superior nuclear applied sciences like small modular reactors (SMRs).
SMRs are superior and compact reactors that may be factory-assembled and put in in dense city areas. They are additionally designed to be safer than conventional massive reactors.
While the institute of greater than 50 researchers has experience within the science – finding out superior nuclear reactors, the spread of radioactive particles, and the effects of low-dose radiation on living things – it additionally wants to look at the engineering points of working a energy plant, stated Mr Low.
It should additionally contemplate how atomic energy may match into the nation’s future energy combine, which will even embrace renewables, he instructed The Straits Times in his first interview as SNRSI’s chief.
He stated: “The energy transition is a tricky business; you not only have to look at the promise behind the technology itself. You have to answer questions like ‘How can it scale?’, ‘How can costs be driven down?’ and ‘Will the supply chain work out?’
“In any academic setting, there is this danger of looking at the world through rose-tinted lenses: ‘If my science is sound, downstream adoption shouldn’t be a problem’.”
While it isn’t unsuitable to be optimistic, Mr Low stated SNRSI not solely has to produce glorious science, but in addition good real-world points akin to engineering constraints, constructing a plant on time with out exceeding finances, and educating the general public.
The five-storey institute at NUS formally opened in July 2025, led by director Chung Keng Yeow, who had additionally been head of the institute’s predecessor, the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative, since 2018.
In late 2025, Mr Low heard that the institute was searching for its first CEO, from a name put out by NUS and a ministry.
He stated: “Having just a university-based academic director was not quite sufficient. SNRSI will look a little bit more of a different animal than just a research-performing entity.”
The institute wants to be a college, possess a sturdy outreach arm, coordinate analysis throughout completely different institutes, and work with businesses on a myriad of nuclear-related points, Mr Low added.
The institute can be exploring introducing Singapore’s first grasp’s programme targeted on nuclear engineering in 2027. The programs could possibly be taught by lecturers from numerous schools.
Currently, NUS’ mechanical engineering division gives a graduate module on nuclear energy applied sciences.
When he was assistant CEO of energy applied sciences at EMA, Mr Low coated markets, transition planning into cleaner energies, and rising tech, which included nuclear points.
Previously, he was group chief know-how officer of the Public Sector Science and Technology Policy and Plans Office – which sits underneath the Prime Minister’s Office. He began his profession serving to to arrange the National Research Foundation in 2006.
“So it was seen as a plus point that I will not exactly come into this portfolio cold… They thought I had the requisite experience, the networks of both the academic side, the scientific community and the energy side, to be able to make a go at this,” stated Mr Low.
Two months into his function on the institute, he has been assembly the assorted analysis departments over casual lunches.
Mr Low Xin Wei stated SNRSI not solely has to produce glorious science, but in addition good real-world points akin to engineering constraints, constructing a plant on time with out exceeding finances, and educating the general public.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
One of the superior SMR designs that the institute has a eager curiosity in is the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor – deemed to be among the many safer nuclear tech obtainable.
The heightened security lies in how the uranium gasoline is saved. In a gas-cooled reactor, poppy seed-size uranium kernels are coated with layers of temperature-tolerant and protecting carbon and ceramic supplies.
Thousands of these kernels are then additional sealed with carbon inside a sphere the dimensions of a billiard ball. With the fission response contained in every kernel, it may be meltdown-proof.
Unlike different SMRs which can be used to produce electrical energy, a high-temperature gas-cooled one may produce industrial warmth for processes akin to district heating, hydrogen manufacturing and carbon emissions-intensive metal manufacturing.
China’s Shandong province has one plant operational since 2023, and it’s constructing a second one – primarily for industrial heating – for the petrochemical sector. The United States’ X-energy is constructing a comparable reactor.
In April, SNRSI entered a partnership with Tsinghua University’s Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, which was the birthplace of the superior reactor’s know-how in China. The operational reactor in Shandong is a scaled-up model of a analysis reactor in Tsinghua.
“It’s one thing to hear from those selling the reactors on how they work. It is also important to get to the source, understand from those who design these reactors – whether or not the maths and science behind the reactors are entirely valid,” stated Mr Low.
SNRSI’s researchers additionally use specialised pc packages that simulate numerous SMRs to perceive their regular efficiency in addition to their behaviour throughout extreme accidents. This strategy helps in evaluating the reactors’ security options and limitations.
While forging partnerships with international locations which can be forward in nuclear utilization, the NUS institute can be planning to collaborate with different native institutes and doubtlessly fund associated analysis.
For instance, whereas SNRSI is adept at modelling how radioactive pollution disperse by way of air or water, it could want to work with climate and air air pollution specialists to perceive how radiation-emitting particles may behave within the context of South-east Asia’s climate and concrete settings.
Water, as an illustration, is a key service of radioactive particles, and the upper humidity ranges within the tropics have to be taken under consideration, stated Mr Low.
“Could humidity cause the particles to adhere differently to concrete? Perhaps the way we then have to clean (contaminated) concrete surfaces would differ from how it was done with Chernobyl and Fukushima.”
On SNRSI’s function in constructing nuclear expertise, Mr Low stated the kinds of expertise might be inbuilt phases. Now, Singapore wants PhD-holders and nuclear engineers to information and advise policymakers. The institute plans to develop its expertise pool to round 130 by 2030.
The deliberate grasp’s programme will even create a native coaching route, as most nuclear specialists in Singapore have to this point been educated overseas. The institute additionally aims to present skilled coaching and quick programs for policymakers, financiers and others within the nuclear ecosystem.
If and when Singapore decides to go nuclear, the nation can have to ramp up expertise additional to have a ample workforce to run a plant, stated Mr Low. After that, it may take 10 years to 15 years to construct the plant.
At one level within the interview, Mr Low held up his telephone to present his screensaver that includes his two-year-old toddler.
He stated: “The people who are likely going to be the first fresh grads operating the plant are probably this young now.”
He added: “We need different talent at different stages. Right now, it’s the decision-makers and the next stage are the engineers. The last stage is the operators.”
In March, the institute arrange a sales space at Science Centre Singapore to educate guests about pure sources of radiation within the setting.
PHOTO: SNRSI
Another key pillar of SNRSI is to educate the general public about nuclear energy, to assist tackle the apprehension the subject can usually evoke. It aims to clarify the science merely, early and clearly.
Since its launch, the institute has hosted 10 public lectures on points associated to nuclear science and know-how. These included talks by the French nuclear authority on security, and one other on emergency preparedness by a Fukushima Medical University professor.
To date, 400 college students, from secondary colleges to universities, have visited SNRSI to study extra about nuclear fission, reactor applied sciences and security.
The institute can be working with the Ministry of Education to develop a module on nuclear energy for the net studying portal utilized in colleges.
Mr Low stated public training and outreach has to be performed rigorously and responsibly.
He added: “As an institute, we focus on explaining the fundamentals of nuclear science, rather than advocating positions. So, public understanding is built on evidence rather than emotion.”