New Bill tightens nuclear security

SINGAPORE — The Government has introduced a Bill to amend laws to tighten nuclear security, so Singapore can accede to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its 2005 amendments.

The Bill, tabled yesterday, comes after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong first announced in March the Government’s plans to accede to the Convention at the Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands.

Mr Lee had noted then that while Singapore is neither a nuclear power nor a user of nuclear energy, nuclear security and safety are important to the Republic.

“We are small and densely-populated. Any nuclear or radiological incident would be a major disaster, perhaps an existential one,” he said.

“We are also an international hub — our economy, trade and security can easily be affected by a nuclear accident elsewhere.”

Among other things, the Bill seeks to amend the Radiation Protection Act to make it an offence to use nuclear material to cause death, serious injury or substantial property damage.

The amendments will also make it an offence to threaten to commit theft or robbery involving nuclear material, in order to compel a person, international organisation or any government to do or not do something.

Nuclear offences will also be made extraditable crimes and Singapore will be empowered to deal with a nuclear offence committed outside the country.

Also, the maximum jail term for importing, exporting and possessing radioactive materials or irradiating apparatus without a licence or in breach of licensing terms will be raised from two to five years.

The Bill will also introduce a definition of “nuclear material” that is in line with what is stated in the convention.

One hundred and forty-nine states are party to the convention, which obliges parties to criminalise misconduct related to nuclear material, such as theft or robbery, embezzlement and trafficking. Last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency received reports on 146 cases of missing or unauthorised use of radioactive and nuclear material.