The government will build Southeast Asia's first nuclear monitoring laboratory to allow scientists check the safety of atomic energy programmes in the region, a report said on Sunday.

The US$26 million facility would be built in Pahang and be operational in three years' time, the Sunday Star newspaper reported.

Science, Technology and Innovation minister Jamaludin Jarjis said the laboratory would be the first in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia has 66 scientists in nuclear-related subjects and many of them are involved in work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.

Jamaludin said the government agreed to implement the project following recommendations by the UN nuclear watchdog since none of the developing countries in the region had such a facility.

Jamaludin said among the functions of the laboratory were to ensure that the region was free of nuclear weapons and to provide services for countries that needed to check whether their nuclear-powered facilities were safe.

The move follows plans by neighbouring Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand to develop atomic energy programmes and hence there was a need to have a monitoring laboratory, he said.

Jamaludin said IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei would visit Malaysia on July 17.