‘Malaysia far from being nuclear ready’

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has a long way to go before the country can develop its own nuclear technology.

Malaysia Nuclear Power Corp (MNPC) chief executive officer Mohd Zamzam Jaafar said education and managing public perception, as well as equipping the country with an additional nuclear-related treaty, were on the priority list for nuclear development, Bernama reported.

“We are still in preparation mode. Apart from managing public perception, we also need to improve our nuclear law, which has yet to be tabled in Parliament. Nuclear technology is sensitive.

“We have to be a party to certain international agreements before we can access the technology. We have not ratified additional protocol under the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Public Information on Nuclear Energy Seminar yesterday.

The seminar was launched by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water secretary-general Datuk Seri Zaini Ujang.

“Going by a Economic Planning Unit study, a reason why we are exploring nuclear energy is due to the imports of coal and liquefied natural gas, which means the security of supply is not so diversified.

“Diversifying the sources of energy is among the policies to secure energy supply in Malaysia and that is why we want to include nuclear energy as part of the energy mix,” said Mohd Zamzam.