Power UP!
Malaysia must make a decision soon whether it will invest in nuclear power.Â
Projecting that nuclear power plants would be needed by the year 2020, Dr MuhdNoor, Deputy Director of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, has advocated such planing. [The] “longer Malaysia takes time for deciding upon the issue, the expenses to implement the option will also increase,” said Mr Noor during a present ation at the Asian Power Forum 2008 held in the country recently.
About 90% of Malaysia’s current energy is generated by coal or natural gas-fired plants.
Certainly, building a nuclear power plant will even now require a great deal of capital. “We are looking at about 10 billion ringgit (3.1 billion dollars) for a 1,000 MW plant,” Mohamad Zam Zam Jaafar, head of Tenaga’s nuclear energy task force.
But by dragging its feet, not only will Malaysia pay more later, it is already falling behind the energy curve even amongst its neighbors. In addition to existing reactors in the region, plans are underway for several brand new facilities:
Indonesia (4) 4,000 MW reactors online by 2016
Vietnam  (2) 2,000 MW reactors online by 2018
Thailand  (2) 2,000 MW reactors online by 2021
As the expense of resources burned in traditional plants continue to increase, Malaysia must be forward-thinking as it is in the national interest to have a plan underway to diversify sources of energy. Part of that diversification should be nuclear.
