Putrajaya is going backwards by reviving its nuclear energy ambitions for the country, says PKR environmental bureau chief Lee Chean Chung.

"After the governments of Germany and Japan laid out their nuclear-free policies by 2020 and 2040 respectively, BN government's decision to embrace nuclear energy is clearly short-sighted, irresponsible and going backwards," he said in a statement.

He was responding to Minister in th Prime Minister's Department Mah Siew Keong ( right ) who on Thursday had confirmed that Putrajaya was still looking into nuclear energy, urging the public to keep an open mind.

Lee said even developed democracies such as Taiwan and South Korea are sceptical of the governance and usage of nuclear energy and Malaysia does not inspire confidence with its lack of transparency and corruption woes.

"The BN government has secretly promoted nuclear power plants. 

"The latest information from the World Nuclear Association announced in June 2013, the BN government has delineated five nuclear power plant sites in the peninsula.

"Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2010 also announced that two nuclear power plants totalling RM21.3 billion will be built," he said.

'Look at other options'

Lee said despite's Mah's stressing that nuclear energy was renewable, Malaysia does not have the necessary raw material and will need to import Uranium from overseas.

 

urthermore, he said the handling of nuclear waste was often controversial even in developed countries.

He urged Mah, who is in charge of the Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation, to consider the risks of nuclear energy and the anti-nuclear movements that have emerged over governments' insistence to push through with that option.

"Malaysia is very resourceful and filled with potential to develop renewable energy. We should review our energy efficiency, issues of energy monopoly, and think along the lines of sustainable development," he said.

Lee also weighed into Mah's announcement that an Atomic Energy Regulatory Act was being drafted, warning that it would be the beginning of setting Malaysia on a nuclear path.

 

"This law would be the legal basis to build nuclear plants and thus become the barometer of whether nuclear energy would be adopted.

 

"I would like to warn the BN government that the people from this country of all backgrounds will stay united to protest against the building of nuclear plants, to protect our children and next generation," he said.