Malaysia readies itself for nuclear power after 2035

Decision made as country struggles to meet renewable energy and net-zero targets

- Shannon Teoh

Malaysia is readying itself for the likely use of nuclear energy after 2035 as it struggles to meet renewable energy and net-zero carbon emission targets.

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.

"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.