Over the years, it was planned for Malaysia to have its own nuclear power plant to cope with our country’s high energy consumption. Recently, the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) has decided not to pursue nuclear energy in Malaysia.
Initially, the Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation (MNPC) was set up back in 2011 by the previous government to research on the country’s nuclear energy usage. The corporation originally planned to build two nuclear power plants in Malaysia by the year 2030.
The decision was recently announced after several months of planning to stop its development. On that regard, Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has also clarified that Malaysia will not use nuclear energy due to radioactive waste concerns.
(Image source: The Star)
The cancellation of the nuclear power plant construction has also resulted to the closure of MNPC. MESTECC Minister Yeo Bee Yin mentioned that the process to cancel the plan is “not difficult” as there is no contract signed by the previous government. However, she also clarified that the Malaysian Nuclear Agency will not be affected by the cancellation.
As a replacement for nuclear energy, the minister has suggested that Malaysia should opt for renewable energy such as biomass, biogas and solar energy, while also stating that “nuclear is obsolete”. Currently, 90% of the country’s electricity is generated by fossil fuel.
(Source: The Star, The Malay Mail [1][2], NST, Energy Commission [pdf] // Image: Nuclear Wetlands, James Marvin Phelps -used under Creative Commons license)
