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New look into Malaysia’s energy transition to nuclear with fossil fuel approaching its end | Digital News Asia

New look into Malaysia’s energy transition to nuclear with fossil fuel approaching its end

New look into Malaysia’s energy transition to nuclear with fossil fuel approaching its end

New look into Malaysia’s energy transition to nuclear with fossil fuel approaching its end

  • Malaysia still has fossil fuel for the next ten years 
  • Need to build understanding of the science of nuclear energy for policy makers

Dr Siti A’iasah Hashim, president of Women in Nuclear

“In the early 2020s, when I was in Universiti Malaya (UM), we worked together with National University Singapore (NUS) and Australia, and we came up with a possible fusion reactor, which was a very small device,” said Dr Siti A’iasah Hashim, president of Women in Nuclear in a panel session on the second day of the International Sustainable Energy Summit (ISES) yesterday.

However, due to the large amount of support and resources from the government and scientists that led to little return, it eventually died down.

It was only very recently Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) decided to work together with UM and she hoped that this project could be revived again.

“While fusion has a long way to be done, there are also a lot of advancements in this technology,” she added.

Fusion occurs when two atoms combine to form a heavier atom, it creates huge amounts of energy—several times greater than fission, and it also doesn’t produce highly radioactive fission products. However, these reactions are difficult to sustain for long periods of time because of the tremendous amount of pressure and temperature needed to join the nuclei together.

Because of this, fission-based reactors are what’s present in all current power plants as in contrast, fission splits large atoms (like uranium or plutonium) into smaller ones, producing energy that can be sustained over longer periods, but in exchange it creates radioactive waste. 

This is relevant because on July 27, 2023, prime minister Anwar Ibrahim launched the Economic Madani framework, one of the primary focus highlights was spurring Malaysia's green growth for climate resilience. In the same year, the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), there was a pledge made that nuclear power would become one of the sources of clean energy.

To add on to the pressure of transitioning, Siti said “Malaysia still has fossil fuel for maybe around ten years time, which means the red tape is running, and we can also start planning for the decommission of coal plants.”

Raja (Dr) Abdul Aziz bin Raja Adnan, a board member and expert in the Department of Atomic Energy Malaysia

On the other hand, Raja (Dr) Abdul Aziz, a board member and expert in the Department of Atomic Energy Malaysia, stated that the notion of phasing out fossil fuel and gas should be based on science rather than emotion or politics.

“We have to make that decision on a very informed basis,” he added.

According to him, in 2011, Malaysia was the first Asean nation to have a Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organization (NEPIO) and a Nuclear Power Cooperation (MNPC), however it was disbanded in 2018.

“There were very important documents that had been written at the time, so for us to advance, I think there is a need for us to look at those documents again and find out whether it is still valid, along with identifying the gaps and add on to the technology that was not included before,” Raja Abdul opined.

One of the new range of solutions that potentially can be included is Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - a class of small nuclear fission reactors with a maximum output of 300 Megawatt electricity (MWe) unlike its conventional and bigger counterparts that typically have an output of between 700 and 1400 MWe. They’re designed to be built in a factory, shipped to operational sites for installation and then used to power buildings or other commercial operations.

“This is because in 2018, SMRs were not a feature just yet and it is a very promising technology as it is modular, scalable, affordable, but not necessarily economical,” he explained.

Siti Safinah Salleh, CEO of MyPower Corporation

When transitioning to nuclear power, Siti Safinah Salleh, CEO of MyPower Corporation mentioned the keywords Security, Safeguard, and understanding the science and geopolitics behind nuclear energy.

“It's not just the scientists, but also the policy/decision makers and the public have to understand the science behind it,” she said.

“There's also the community where you want to build it, you have to engage a lot more closely with them and get them involved at the start,” she added.

Denis Depoux, global managing director of Roland Berger

Denis Depoux, global managing director of Roland Berger agreed, stating that “transparency is paramount.”

“From a legislative, regulatory framework and policy statement, communication is important, so that the people of Malaysia are in this with the industry, otherwise they will be defiant and there will be no trust,” he added.

Echoing Raja’s earlier point regarding transitioning on an informed basis, Siti Safinah said that SMR, like all technologies, needs to reach a certain level of maturity.

“Because the energy transition is not a sprint, it's a marathon, and It's going to take many years beyond the career of some of us here as well,” she explained.

Depoux agreed maturity is important, “there are proven technologies already that can be deployed quite easily, while these are not the SMR mostly, my advice would be to look at experienced providers like China, France, Russia, and South Korea.”

When asked whether should Malaysia implement the use of nuclear plants, Raja Abdul opined that, “If we are serious about becoming a high-income generating country, we have to be sustainable; we have no choice, and I think it's a logical progression of us acquiring such technology,” 

Depoux agreed, adding that “with most Asian countries being manufacturing powerhouses, the industry demand for electricity is growing with population digitalisation adding to that, there is no other way to meet the decarbonisation challenge without adding nuclear into the mix.”

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