Straits Times 6 May 10;
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian environmentalists and opposition leaders yesterday slammed the government's plan to build a nuclear power plant, calling it a risky and unnecessary venture.
Energy Minister Peter Chin announced on Tuesday the government's in-principle approval for a nuclear plant, due to operate from 2021, as an efficient and cost-effective means to fuel economic growth.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said in his blog that Malaysia will start identifying sites for the country's first nuclear power plant but no decision has been taken on whether to proceed.
'Our non-renewable natural resources are finite,' Mr Najib said. 'Eventually, the supply will end. In this regard, our current fuel mix for power generation in Malaysia is skewed too much in favour of natural gas and coal.'
Malaysia will join neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam, which have unveiled plans to operate their first nuclear power plants by 2020, while Indonesia plans to build its own on Java island by 2015. Even Singapore has not ruled out nuclear power.
The opposition Democratic Action Party said there was no need for nuclear power because Malaysia has a 40 per cent energy reserve margin, double the government's target of 20 per cent.
In addition, it said, several large hydroelectric dams are being built on Borneo island to cater to future demands. 'Clearly Malaysia has more energy than it needs ...why then does Malaysia need a nuclear power plant?' the party's secretary-general, Mr Lim Guan Eng, said in a statement.
He also expressed concerns for safety and the environment, citing the 1986 Chernobyl reactor explosion that sent a cloud of radiation over much of Europe and left some two million people ill.
Malaysian officials maintain the plan is crucial for long-term energy security in view of a growing population and future economic expansion, but say they will conduct feasibility studies before deciding.
Malaysia uses coal and natural gas to generate most of its electricity, and the government has warned the cost of relying on both will spiral in the decades ahead.
The Centre for Environment, Technology and Development, a local think-tank, warned that nuclear power was capital intensive and risky because it generates radioactive waste that has to be discarded. Its chairman, Mr Gurmit Singh, said there is a lot of energy wastage in the country as petrol, diesel and electricity are subsidised. He urged the government to bolster energy efficiency and turn to other renewable sources like wind and solar power.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are more than 430 nuclear power plants operating in some 30 countries worldwide, accounting for about 15 per cent of global electricity output.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, BERNAMA
Selangor Against Nuclear Power Plant
Bernama 5 May 10;
SHAH ALAM, May 5 (Bernama) -- Selangor has refused to support and allow the construction of a nuclear power plant in the state as it believes other energy sources are available.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the state was also prepared to reduce electricity usage and study the use of new energy-efficient technology instead of relying on the proposed nuclear power plant.
"I don't think we need further effort to increase energy production through the nuclear power plant," he said at a news conference after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting here Wednesday.
Abdul Khalid who is also Bandar Tun Razak Member of Parliament, said he considered the construction of a nuclear power plant as a serious issue which needed to be discussed in Parliament.
"We have one of the most expensive power plants, which is the Bakun dam, and I don't see the need for a nuclear power plant as an alternative," he said.
On Tuesday, the government gave the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry the go-ahead to proceed with its plan for the nation's first nuclear power plant to cater to the country's increasing power needs. The plant is expected to be fully operational by 2021.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Wednesday urged the public to give their views on the future of power generation in Malaysia, including using nuclear energy.
He said although nuclear energy was undeniably more cost-effective and efficient, the government needed to study whether it was the right new source of energy for the country.
In KUALA LUMPUR, environmental organisations urged the government to gauge public opinion before setting up a nuclear power plant.
Centre For Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia (CETDEM) chairman Gurmit Singh said as the decision would directly affect the lives of Malaysians, their views should be taken into account before any decision was made.
He said he did not feel that Malaysia needed nuclear energy, adding that the nuclear power plant would require radioactive waste disposal, which at the moment could only be processed by France and Britain.
Malaysian Nature Society executive director Dr Loh Chi Leong said the public had not been given enough information on the plan.
"A detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report must be published and given to the public so they have accurate information on the plant's operations," he told Bernama Wednesday.
He said the government should also prepare a comparative report on the use of nuclear energy by other countries to assure the public of its safety.
"The government needs to also think about the effects nuclear power will have on the people as it will involve toxic waste disposal and a radioactive system that can harm the environment," he added.
Meanwhile, Masterskill University College of Health Sciences deputy vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Proom Promwichit said many people were unaware that nuclear power was the safest source of energy compared to others.
He said so far, its use only involved a risk of 0.007 per cent and there had yet to be accidents involving nuclear energy reactors, unless caused by human negligence.
He welcomed the government's proposal to make nuclear energy an alternative source in the future, saying it would greatly benefit the country.
"We don't have any issues on expertise as we have the people who are trained and skilled in this area. However, we may face problems in finding a suitable location to build a small reactor," he said when contacted by Bernama Wednesday.
Proom, who is the first Malaysian to introduce nuclear medical technology to the country, added that he felt Kedah or Terengganu would be an ideal location to build the first reactor as the areas were free from the risk of earthquakes.
-- BERNAMA
Nuke plant not in Klang Valley
The Star 7 May 10;
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s first nuclear power plant should not be built in the Klang Valley which has a high population of seven million people, said the atomic energy regulator.
Atomic Energy Licensing Board director-general Raja Datuk Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan said the plant and its buffer zone needed to be constructed on at least 2.6sq-km of land, equal to about 314 football pitches.
Abdul Aziz, who claimed he was neither for nor against nuclear energy, said the plant would need a base of solid rock with little or no seismic movement, more than 10m elevation to be safe from disasters like tsunamis and hurricanes, and located near a large body of water for cooling purposes.
“It needs to be near the electricity grid in order to ‘hook’ onto it and on the least populated area with no other land use.
“So, the Klang Valley is expected to be out,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Abdul Aziz was commenting on a statement by Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui that his ministry was currently conducting a study into constructing Malaysia’s first plant, estimated to cost RM20bil.
He stressed that the Government must fully comply with the advice of the International Atomic Energy Agency on the construction.
“It is important that an independent, internationally recognised agency look at whether our infrastructure meets world standards,” he said, adding that technology using mixed oxide methods could convert plutonium, which was spent nuclear fuel, to become more manageable by recycling part of it.
He said there were also mechanisms whereby vendors could lease nuclear fuel to Malaysia and then take it back for reprocessing.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Nuclear Science Department scientist Prof Datuk Dr Sukiman Sarmani said the plant’s ideal site would be near the Straits of Malacca, among which are Batu Pahat in Johor, Pulau Angsa in Selangor and Sitiawan in Perak.
“Other states like Malacca and Pahang will definitely offer some locations. too,” he said, adding that selection must be subject to the Environmental Impact Assessment and Radiological Impact Assessment.
Dr Sukiman said while there was already a storage facility for low-level radioactive material in Belanja, Perak, spent fuel waste could also be kept in an underground mine.
“The Sungai Lembing tin mine is quite suitable for such a long-term storage,” he said, adding that as a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory, Malaysia was not allowed to process spent nuclear fuel from a reactor.
Both men also agreed that the current third and fourth generation nuclear reactors were safe and reliable, having “evolved” from the unstable first and second generation plants such as the one in Chernobyl.
Abdul Aziz said the Government might be looking into building two 500 MV plants while Dr Sukiman said a 2,000 MV plant was necessary for a 25% energy reserve to attract foreign investments.
Selangor won’t allow nuclear plant on its soil
The Star 7 May 10;
SHAH ALAM: The Selangor Government is against the building of a nuclear plant in the country.
Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said Selangor will also not allow the plant to be built in the state.
He said this was because the state government believed the use of alternative energy sources such as solar energy should be enhanced instead of resorting to nuclear power.
He said new technologies with low energy emission and were more environmental-friendly should also be considered as alternatives.
Khalid also said the plan to build the nuclear plant should have been brought to Parliament first.
“This matter is serious and should be tabled and discussed in Parliament.
“The people of Malaysia should be told why there is a need for another energy source after the very expensive Bakun Dam,” he said.
He said everyone was under the impression that all energy requirements would be resolved with the construction of the Bakun Dam.Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin had announced on Tuesday that approval had been given for the setting-up of a nuclear power plant scheduled to be operational from 2021.
Klang MP Charles Santiago has also called on the Government to debate the matter in Parliament before making any firm decision.
Santiago said Chin was mistaken in believing that nuclear power was renewable,
“Nuclear fuel, like coal and gas, is dug out of the ground under very polluting conditions and needs to be securely disposed of when spent,” he said, adding that a new generation nuclear plant might be able to operate for 50 years but its wastes has a radioactive lifespan of thousands of years.
The Asian Rare Earth case in Perak, he said, also showed the Government’s dismal track record in the management of radioactive waste, he said.
