Media statement by Charles Santiago in Klang on Tuesday, 8^th June 2010:

Peter Chin, where is Najib's 'comprehensive study' on nuclear policy? Explain why targets on renewable energy not met

In yesterday's sitting of parliament, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin continued to sell nuclear power as the government's preferred option.

The Minister argued that dependency on coal and gas will lead to a rise in electricity rates due to scarcity and market volatility. He then claimed that the cost of operation for nuclear was low compared to coal, oil, and gas.

It is true that prices of both coal and gas have been rising in recent years.

However, the same is true of uranium, the fuel needed for nuclear power plants.

It must be pointed out to the Minister that overall cost needs to be considered, rather than just operational cost.

The total lifetime costs of nuclear power are very high and are uncompetitive compared to gas-power. This is a strong reason why the nuclear industry has been in worldwide decline for over a decade.

Chin stated that a 1,000 megawatt (MW) nuclear plant could cost between US$2 and US$4 billion (RM6.4 and RM12.8 billion). By comparison, the 1,300MW Lumut gas-plant, cost around RM4 billion.

Based on construction costs alone a gas plant delivers more than twice the value per MW compared to a nuclear plant.

Gas powered plants enjoy an efficiency of between 41%-50%. Nuclear hovers at around 33%.

If dependency on coal and gas will lead to a rise in electricity rates then I cannot see how adding a single nuclear power plant - which is facing rising prices, lower value per MW, and lower efficiency - is going to help the consumers' bills.

Malaysia also maintains a 40% reserve power margin, double the target of 20%. Why shouldn't more efficient management of the reserve margin lead to lower rates and remove the need for a risky technology such as nuclear?

Nuclear power also has pay costs for the treatment and storage of radioactive waste, which needs to be kept secure for thousands of years.

Additionally, there need to be security measures in place to prevent sabotage or illegal trafficking for weapons production. The government is only showing the Malaysian public a fraction of the costs involved with nuclear.

Clearly, this area of nuclear economics needs more study.

Indeed, Prime Minister Najib Razak has, in his 1Malaysia blog, called for a "comprehensive study" before going ahead on nuclear.

Why is Chin putting out a "There Is No Alternative To Nuclear" message before such a study has been done?

The Minister also said that the plant would not be a threat to the environment and the government would undertake road-shows to educate the public on the safety of nuclear power. "We hope we can influence public perception through the programmes," he said.

In the absence of the Prime Minister's "comprehensive study", how can he make such a bold claim?

The Prime Minister's study should also be aware of another study commissioned and accepted by the German government on the connection between child cancers and proximity to nuclear power plants.

The KiKK study surveyed all nuclear plants in Germany and their surrounding populations. They found a strong link between child cancers and proximity to a nuclear power plant.

No Malaysian child or adult should be exposed to such dangers.

A big part of the safety of nuclear power lies in the maintenance culture. Malaysia unfortunately suffers from a poor maintenance culture as well as poor construction for official projects.

Look at the state of Putrajaya and our collapsing stadiums. The Federal Government is also fond of official secrecy. These factors combined do not generate any confidence for nuclear safety in Malaysia.

Malaysia has outstanding targets on renewable energy capacity that have not yet been fulfilled.

The Minister needs to answer why government performance in this sector has been so poor. Since we have the option of safe and reliable technologies we should not be rushing ahead on risky, costly, and under-researched options such as nuclear power.

* Charles Santiago, MP for Klang