The time has come for the government to declare its reasons for wanting to explore nuclear energy in the country.

On June 21 last year, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that the government was prepared to explore the use of nuclear energy but not before doing so with alternative sources like solar and hydro energy.

dr ronald mc coy To Physicians for Peace and Social Responsibility (PPSC) president Dr Ronald McCoy, the news signalled that it was high time the government held a public debate on its consideration over the use of nuclear energy in Malaysia.

"The government has never held a public dialogue on an issue that is of serious and dire consequence like the nuclear energy in Malaysia," said McCoy.

Speaking to Malaysiakini yesterday, McCoy said he suspected the Malaysian Nuclear Agency was lobbying the government to go nuclear in order to reap profits from the nuclear energy business.

Nuclear reactors heavily subsidised

"The often quoted excuse that nuclear energy is clean, cheap and safe is a myth.

nuclear power plant reactor fusion 040309 01 "Radioactive waste generated by nuclear reactors takes a millennia to decay as the world has yet to discover a safe and efficient method to dispose of it," McCoy added.

He said plutonium as one example.

"Plutonium has a half-life of 240 centuries. Is radioactive waste a legacy we want to leave behind for future generations? The argument that nuclear energy is cheap is far from the truth. Most nuclear reactors are heavily subsidised and no one knows the real cost of constructing nuclear reactors.

"In addition, nuclear reactors can only operate for a maximum of two decades, after which they will have to be decommissioned. This will incur huge expenses."

McCoy retired in 1996 as an obstetrician and gynecologist to devote more time to the work of nuclear disarmament.

He hoped that the 20,000 babies he delivered over 40 years in Malaysia could live in a safer, nuclear-free world.

Nuclear energy a big threat

McCoy said the mechanism of nuclear energy production, that of generating nuclear fission to heat water and produce steam that powers turbines, is in actual fact a very expensive way of boiling water.

nuclear power plant reactor fusion 040309 02 He added that nuclear energy, because of its potentially catastrophic consequences, must never be considered an alternative by Malaysia, saying ‘Malaysia is a small and narrow country’.

"Regardless of where you build a nuclear reactor in Malaysia, no matter how far away from the city, the entire country and in fact, the entire Asean region, will be at risk.

"To put things in perspective, after the Chernobyl disaster occurred in Ukraine, nuclear contamination was discovered in as far as Scotland," Dr McCoy remarked.

Risks from nuclear energy

He said a nuclear disaster in Malaysia would not only mean death, but also see cancer cases and radioactive contagion that would last for centuries.

"Considering the grave risk that nuclear energy presents, it requires great care and meticulousness to maintain nuclear reactors.

"In Malaysia, we cannot even maintain our drains and public utilities. We do not possess the culture of maintenance needed to manage nuclear energy," McCoy said.

PPSR, which had planned to jointly organise a nuclear energy conference with Center for Environment, Technology, and Development of Malaysia (Cetdem ) on March 22, has postponed the event to October due to lack of response and financial constraints.

Dr McCoy hoped to reduce the RM150 registration fee to encourage more experts and the public to attend the conference.

The conference, which was to be held at Hotel Armada in Petaling Jaya, is aimed at kick-starting public discussion on whether nuclear energy is necessary in Malaysia.