IAEA To Conduct M'sia's First Nuclear Infrastructure Review Next Week

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Next week, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts will be in the country to conduct the first Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR), says Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation (MNPC) chief executive officer Mohd Zamzam Jaafar. He said the 12 experts, mostly from the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria would review Malaysia's state of preparedness for nuclear energy development, from Oct 10 to 17. "Malaysia is almost there (for nuclear energy development) but there are still certain things that need to be done," he said, adding they included the tabling for nuclear energy bill and identifying a site for nuclear energy programme. Mohd Zamzam told a media briefing here Wednesday that the outcome of Malaysia's INIR review would be out by year-end, and was optimistic it would be a positive review. He said Malaysia had also submitted its self-assesment to IAEA, with all the necessary documents in May this year. On nuclear programme awareness in Malaysia, Mohd Zamzam said most Malaysians had negative impression when they heard the word, 'nuclear' "MNPC will conduct education programmes to spread information on nuclear energy for power generation," he said, adding that currently, nuclear energy in Malaysia was only in medical and agricultural sectors. MNPC, he said, forecasted that Malaysia would only be able to have its own nuclear programme for energy generating purposes after 2030. -- BERNAMA