EARLY PLANNING NEEDED FOR NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME, M'SIAN MINISTER

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- Public acceptance, competent human
resources and capacity building should be put in place, years in advance, before
Malaysia commissions its nuclear power plant, said Science, Technology and
Innovation Minister Dr Maximus Ongkili.

He said there must be early planning and consistent implementation in
developing human resources and gaining public acceptance of nuclear power before
a nuclear power programme could succeed.

As such, he urged Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia (FNCA) member
countries to enhance collaboration and share experiences which would benefit
newcomers to the programme.

This was more so in Malaysia's preparation to commission its first nuclear
power plant in 2021 as proposed under the Economic Transformation Programme that
outlined nuclear power development as one of the 131 entry point projects,
post-2020, said Ongkili.

He was speaking at the 11th ministerial meeting of the Forum for Nuclear
Cooperation in Asia here Thursday. Ongkili's speech text was emailed to
Bernama Friday.

For Malaysia, Ongkili noted, high technology nuclear power deployment should
not be seen as intended for electricity generation only, but should include
development of high-tech local industry and spin-off technologies.

"For sustainability, Malaysia needs to localise some of the nuclear
components, which also helps to lower the cost of electricity production in the
longer term," he said.

In line with this, he said, Malaysia had proposed a business forum during
the next FNCA Ministerial Meeting to be held in Tokyo, Japan next year, which
was accepted by the FNCA.
-- BERNAMA


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