Malaysia looks into nuclear

22 July 2008

[AFP, 22 July; The Star Online, 21 July] Malaysian utility Tenaga has set up a nuclear energy taskforce to look into building a nuclear power station at the request of the country's government. According to Mohamad Zam Zam Jaafar, head of the taskforce, Tenaga would likely enter a joint venture with an "experienced party" to build a first nuclear plant. Current state policies do not include nuclear as a national energy source for Malaysia, which relies heavily on natural gas and coal, but a national energy blueprint is due to be announced in August. The Malaysian Nuclear Energy Agency predicts that the country will need nuclear beyond 2020. Speaking at a conference held by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Muhd Noor, deputy director of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, urged the government to make a decision on whether to include nuclear as an option, saying the longer the country waited, the costlier any project would become.

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