Malaysia readies itself for nuclear power after 2035

The Straits Times has learnt that Malaysia’s Cabinet, after discussing in late November a nuclear road map proposed by the National Energy Council (MTN), decided that nuclear is “one of the options of electrical power generation” post-2035.

The paper by the MTN – chaired by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim with several other ministers as members – was prepared after the Cabinet requested it in April 2024.

“The PM himself has been wanting to expedite the process,” a top government official told ST, adding that regulatory milestones set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will take around a decade to complete.

A few ministers had in early November revealed that Malaysia was considering the possible use of nuclear energy.

Since then, several sources have confirmed to ST that MyPOWER, an agency under the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (Petra) tasked with organising reforms for the power sector, has been earmarked to be Malaysia’s nuclear energy programme implementation organisation (Nepio).

The Nepio is responsible for coordinating the work needed to eventually commission nuclear power plants under the IAEA framework.

But one official said that despite preliminary discussions already being held with other countries to expedite Malaysia’s nuclear power implementation, the matter needs to be handled with caution as “domestic political sensitivities and geopolitical considerations” are involved.

Although Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister Fadillah Yusof did not specify when the decision was made, he told ST that using “nuclear power in our future electricity generation” takes into consideration Malaysia’s commitment to the United Nations’ Paris Agreement on Climate Change as well as the increasing demand to ensure reliable electricity supply and sustainable economic growth.

“The firm deployment date of nuclear energy in our power system will hinge on the outcome of the ongoing feasibility studies, which takes into account the various economic, technical as well as social aspects of nuclear development,” said Datuk Seri Fadillah on Dec 19. 

He said MyPOWER is “in the forerunning to assume this important role” as the Nepio and the agency have been tasked to undertake the feasibility study for nuclear deployment.

Under the Paris accord, Malaysia is committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as well as a 45 per cent reduction in carbon intensity as compared with 2005 levels by 2035.

Given these aims, Malaysia may have no choice but to make nuclear an essential part of the energy mix.

“This ambitious goal requires extensive measures to decarbonise the electricity sector while ensuring reliability and affordability. Nuclear energy offers a clean, reliable alternative to meet growing energy demands,” Mr Fadillah said.

A surge in demand for electricity, in large part driven by the ongoing boom in resource-intensive data centres, could otherwise test the government’s commitment to decommission high-carbon-emitting coal power plants and reduce dependency on gas. National power company Tenaga has received applications for supply from data centres exceeding 11 gigawatts, or more than 40 per cent of Peninsular Malaysia’s existing installed capacity.

Fossil fuels still account for over 70 per cent of Malaysia’s energy mix. A growing number of investors also have environmental, social and governance standards that require them to use green energy.

According to Petra, Malaysia’s renewable energy capacity is currently at 28 per cent of the national grid. The government targets an increase to 31 per cent in 2025, 38 per cent in 2030 and a whopping 70 per cent by 2050.

In 2023, although renewable energy made up 25 per cent of total capacity, it provided only 6 per cent of actual electricity supply, due to the intermittent nature of solar power, which averages four to five hours of peak output daily. Nuclear plants will generate power more consistently than solar as well as hydropower dams.

Nonetheless, the move could face a potential backlash, as Malaysians have long had misgivings about the potential risks of radiation pollution.

Major projects such as the Lynas rare earth refinery in Pahang, the world’s largest such facility outside of China, have faced protests from before the Australian miner began operations in 2012 due to fears over radioactivity in its waste material.

Lynas has been able to operate after promising to eventually fully dispose of the radioactive thorium in its waste, although a July 2023 deadline was extended to March 2026 after the company said it was working on new technology to extract the thorium and turn it into fuel for nuclear reactors.

Such concerns were heightened due to a rare earth plant in Perak, which was eventually shuttered in 1994 after 15 years of operation, during which a surge in radiation levels of up to 800 times the permissible limit was blamed for a spike in birth defects, leukaemia and deaths in the area.

Despite Kuala Lumpur first mulling over nuclear power in 2008 along with ambitions to establish two operational nuclear power plants by the year 2021, plans took an unexpected turn and were indefinitely postponed. This ultimately led to the disbandment of the Malaysia Nuclear Power Cooperation in 2019.

Malaysia’s move follows in the footsteps of neighbouring Indonesia and Singapore, which have both made forays into energising their grids with nuclear energy.

Indonesia is set to begin testing its first reactor in 2028, the first of more than 20 nuclear plants slated to be introduced by 2050.

Singapore inked a 30-year deal known as a 123 Agreement on Nuclear Cooperation with the United States in July, which will allow the Republic to access the latest nuclear technology from American organisations, although no firm decision has been made on deploying nuclear plants.

Shannon Teoh

The Straits Times

Asia News Network