ada apa dengan nuklear?

The increase in oil prices has prompted some to think of generating electricity from nuclear power.

The "go nuclear" calls was made by parties from Malaysian Institute of Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) as well as Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Education Training and Research in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CETREE).

These parties see nuclear as a "clean" source since the nuclear plants themselves do not release air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide or nitrogen oxides.

This is not the first time the nuclear option for power generation is being considered.

At the height of the OPEC induced oil crisis of 1974, the Minister of Power, Technology and Research Mohamed Yaacob (later Tan Sri and UMNO’s last Menteri Besar in Kelantan) announced that the Government will be setting up the National Atomic Energy Commission.

The National Electricity Boad was ordered to prepare itself to go nuclear within 10 years.

However by 1980, the nuclear plan was shelved - arising from the huge discovery of oil and gas off the coast of Terengganu by Esso.

Another huge dampener in Malaysia’s nuclear ambition was the meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Pennsylavania in 1979.

The explosion halted further development of power generation by nuclear in the United States.

As a result of this incident the construction permits for nuclear power plants issued by the US authorities had fallen from 82 in 1980 to 9 in 1990.

No new nuclear power plants has been built in the US since 1996.

Now, there are only 104 nuclear power plants in the US compared to 112 in 1990.

The Malaysian pro nuclear lobby perhaps is oblivious to the dangers of nuclear industry’s safety record.

The nuclear industry’s safety record is also nothing to shout about.

Perhaps they have forgotten of the tragedy at the Lenin Power Plant, Chernobyl in April 1986.

The explosion contaminated large areas of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. A 2005 UN report estimates that around 4,000 people will ultimately die from Chernobyl accident-related illnesses.

Japan is another country which has faced a few accidents at its nuclear power plants.

The latest accident took place in August 2004, when four workers were killed and injured seven others after a pipe carrying superheated steam ruptured at the Mihama plant in Fukui prefecture on the Japan Sea coast.

The incident marked the second fatal accident in less than five years at a Japanese nuclear facility.

As a result of these mishaps, the Japanese Government has put plans for the construction of 11 new generation of self-sufficient reactors in deep freeze.

If Russia and Japan, two of the most technologically advanced nations in the world could not even ensure a 100% safety record at their nuclear plants, what more can we expect from Malaysia where a simple cable trip can take TNB more than 24 hours to rectify?

My advice to Malaysia’s very own pro-nuker: don’t waste your time taking Malaysia to the highway of mass destruction.

Spend a few hours of your time instead reading "Poisoned Power" by John W. Gofman and Arthur R. Tamplin and "The New Nuclear Danger" by Helen Caldicott.

Hopefully it will open your eyes to the dangers of nuclear power.