According to THIS SITE:
Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) has a role to introduce and promote the application of nuclear science and technology for national development.From there, I surfed to the MINT website HERE and was surprised to see the site! You have to visit that site to know what I mean.
Established in 19 September 1972, Malaysian Nuclear Agency was then known as Centre for Application of Nuclear Malaysia (CRANE) before it was formally named as Tun Ismail Atomic Research Centre (PUSPATI).
On 28 September 2006, following its restructuring, MINT was given a new identity,which is Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia). Its strategic loction, near higher learning institutions, besides its close proximity to the National Administration Centre, Putrajaya, and the Multimedia Super Corridor, Cyberjaya, has stimulated Nuclear Malaysia to meet its aspirations. CLICK HERE for the rest of the entry.
CLICK HERE to see the vision, mission and slogan of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency. Better still, listen to the audio version! :-)
THIS LINK seems to indicate that the last patent application was filed in 2004.
I found the following sites MOST interesting!!!
1. THIS LINK about the reactor is BLANK.
2. THIS LINK about Radioactive Waste Management is also BLANK.
3. All of the links under Plants and Facilities led to BLANK pages.
4. THIS LINK shows that the training program for 2011 has been systematically arranged, organized and coordinated. Well done!
Whilst in a way it is commendable that our country has made some attempt to develop in nuclear science and technology, I do worry about safety issues especially with regards to leaks and other related issues. Are the laboratories and centres tested and protected against all these challenges? Is there an evacuation plan in the event of a leak and other problems? I hope so.
Our neighbouring countries have also made progress in this area including Myanmar and North Korea.
Datuk Dr. Daud Mohamad, Director General of Malaysian Nuclear Agency, presented a paper on the Future for Nuclear in Malaysia at the Energy Forum held in KL last year which you can access HERE. It appears that our country is moving in the direction of nuclear energy but are we really fully prepared in terms of training, safety measures, meeting challenges and safety issues? His paper said that on 26 June 2009, the Cabinet agreed to:
a) consider nuclear energy as one of the options for electricity generation post 2020 particularly in Peninsular
b) set up Nuclear Power Development Steering Committee (JPPKN) and three (3) Working
Committees
c) allocate RM25 million for a period of 3 years to implement activities under JPPKN
To me, the section on PLANNING ACTIVITIES FOR 2010-2012 in slide 28 seems to be quite elementary. Perhaps more detailed projects are in the pipeline. His paper ended on a positive note where he said that Malaysia has justifications to use nuclear power for long term energy security and environment controls. He opined that nuclear energy policy and new national energy policy are the drivers for nuclear energy development. He assured Malaysians n his presentation that preparations and implementations are underway and in good progress. Issues including the delicate public acceptance are being addressed and managed with utmost care.
Whilst I hope that our country will progress, I just hope that this will not be at the expense of the rakyat, especially wrt safety and cost issues. Perhaps our leaders can explore safer and cheaper alternatives that bring about lower external costs that will not affect the environment that much.
So, do we really need nuke power with the many dams that are mushrooming, especially in East Malaysia?
P.S. I cannot believe I spent the whole night from 7pm to midnight reading up information on this post since I am a greenhorn in this topic. I hope that those with expertise in these areas can step forward to write/blog/comment about this. Thanks!
For further reading, please check out:
1. Aliran article, 25 May 2o1o at THIS LINK.
2. New Homes n Radioactive Dump
Anonymous What nuclear power. We do not even know how to collect our Domestic Garbage(waste) how are we going to collect and get rid of nuclear waste.