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21stCenturyScience&Technology Summer2009 9

Not so very long ago, the BritishcolonyoMalayawasstuckattheproductiveleveloMiddleAges,pro-vidingtheBritishEmpirewithtinandrubberoritsactoriesatrockbottom,reetradeprices.Itwaspartothegrand1,000-yearcolonialvisionotheBritish Empire, upon which the Sun

neversetandthewagesneverrose.Itmeantameagerexistenceandnou-tureexceptservitudeorthearmiesoplantationworkersandtheiramilies.However,WorldWarIIandFranklin

RooseveltsAmericagreatlyweakenedandalmostnishedotheBritishEm-pire, and independence movementsfourishedinthecolonies.In52yearsoindependenceromtheBritish,Ma-laysia has successully urbanized itspopulation,industrializeditseconomy,andinspiredotherlessdevelopedna-

tionstodothesame.For22years,Dr.Mahathirledthenationastheatherodevelopment,amouslytellingpoorcountriestolookeastnotwest,andtobuy British last.He championed therightsotheunderdognations.Now Malaysia is making serious

preparations to go nucle-ar with the positive an-nouncement o a nuclearpolicy by its new PrimeMinister,NajibRasak,whoset 2025 as the date orMalaysia to add nuclearpower to the electricalgrid.NajibwasinspiredbyhisvisittoanexhibitionoSouthKoreannuclearreac-torsandanuclearprogramwhichalloweditspopula-tiontoleaprogromawar-destroyed country in the1950s,tobecomeahigh-wageindustrialgiant.ABlowtotheGreensNajibsvirtualovernight

conversiontonuclearen-

ergywasavictoryorMa-laysiasnuclearandscien-tic community that hadunitedtopatientlyeducatethe public on nuclearsnecessity and saety. ButitwasabitterblowtoMa-laysiasgreenenvironmen-talmovement,which had

long dominated the newspapers and

was rejoicing in President Obamasloveaairwithprimitivegreentech-nology.Suddenly, thegreenies ound they

hadlost theintellectualbattle.Theirimportedanti-nuclearearcampaign,based entirely on tired old anti-

developmentpropagandaaboutCher-nobyl, nuclear waste, and the anti-development belies o the WorldWiildlieFundandGreenpeace,hadbeeneectivelyexposedinaspiritedcounteroensivebyseniorscientistsandengineers.The nuclear commu-nitynallydeclaredwaronthisevil

greenie nonsense; they wrote pro-nuclear articles or the newspapersand made themselves available orinterviews.Thisstruckachordwiththepopula-

tionthathadbeenhitby40percentincreasesinpetrolprices,anditalsoprepared the ground or the pro-nuclearannouncementsbythePrimeMinister and both the Science andEnvironmentMinisters.Insteadoreit-eratingtheusualideologicalhypethatmanisdestroyingtheplanetwithsinul

carbon dioxide and global warming,theMinisters notedthe simple real-itythatMalaysiawas already import-ingthecoaloritspowerstationsandwould run out ooil and gaswithin10to 20years. Itheelectricitysup-plyweredisrupted,itwouldbeback

VIEWPOINT

MalaysiaIsGoingNuclear!

by Mohd Peter Davis

Courtesy of Nuclear Malaysia Agency

MalaysiasTrigatestreactorattheBangiHeadquartersoftheNuclearMalaysiaAgency.The1-megawattMarkIITrigareactorbeganoperationin1982.

VIEWPOINT

8/14/2019 21st Century Science and Technology- Malaysia is Going Nuclear ! (www.mohdpeterdavis.com)

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10 Summer2009 21stCenturyScience&Technology

tothewellwaterandgaslampsothecolonialdaysandearlydecadesoin-dependence.Scientists, engineers, and proes-

sionalsallmembersotheMalaysianNuclearSocietywhichwas celebrat-ing its 20th anniversarygave thepopulationabirthdaypresentbyridi-culingthegreentechnologythatwas

supposedtoreplaceossiluels.Solarpanelswithrechargeablebatteriesaregreat or street lamps andholiday is-lands,butoractoriesandmodernso-ciety?ArentwindmillarmsalittlebitstupidorMalaysia,knownbycentu-riesosailorsasthelandonowind?

ImportedOppositionClearly, the natives were getting

restless, indeed insolent; the localanti-nucleargreenieswereoutotheirdepthandneededhelp.ItwastimetosendMalaysiaasharprebukeromthe

well-unded, royal-sponsored greenenvironmentalmovement.ButalltheycouldmusterwasanopinionpieceintheMalaysianNewStraitsTimes,whichre-warmed an anti-nuclear mantrapublishedayearearlierintheJakartaPost,whenIndonesiahadtheaudacitytoshowenthusiasmorgoingnuclear.Both articles came rom the same

pued-upAmerican proessionalgreenenvironmentalist,oneBenjaminSovacool, a young expert in energypolicynoless,whohadmovedromtheUnitedStatesclosertotheactioninSouthEastAsiatheBritishEmpiressaehouseattheLeeKuanYewSchooloPublicPolicyattheNationalUni -versityoSingapore.Thisgreen-behind-the-earsenviron-

mentalistwastellingsovereignAseannations, with democratically electedgovernments, why they should de-nitelynotgonuclear.Whattheyoungenergypolicyexpertdidnotmention,ocourse,wasthehugeenergydecitinthe10Aseannations.Withnearly10percentotheworldspopulation,these nations need 18 times moreelectricitythancurrentlyproducedtocatch upwith themodest per capitaelectricity production o their nearneighbor,Australia.

Onthisscale,thepoorestAseanna-tion,Cambodia,trappedinthestoneage,needs900timesmoreelectricityproductiontoenjoyadecentstandardo living. Since Thailand, the Philip-pines, Vietnam, and (heaven orbid)Myanmar arealso taking thenuclearroad,theytooshouldsoonexpectthesamere-warmedrebukeintheirlead-

ingEnglishnewspapersromtheyoungAmericangreenie,Dr.BenjaminSova -cool.AconsensusisgrowingamongMa-

laysiasconsiderablenumberohighlytrained nuclear scientists, engineers,and proessionals, some now retiredandmanyclosetoretirement,thatthetime has come to simply ignore theignorantfatearthgreenenvironmen-

talists.Instead,thenuclearcommunityneedstoconcentrateoneducatingthepublic, including politicians and toppublicservants.Thetruthothemat-teristhatnuclearenergyisbyarthesaestenergytechnologyeverinventedbymankind,withoutwhichMalaysiasyouth(some50percentothepopula-tionareunder23yearsold),willhaveauturenobetterthancolonialplan-tationworkers.Theanti-nucleargreenies,including

Proessor Sovacool, should practice

whattheypreachandgobacktona-turewithoutelectricityandlearnhowtotaprubberandharvestpalmoilruitbunches or a living. The rest o uswanttobuildtheuture.Mohd Peter Davis is an honorary

visitingscientistattheInstituteofAd-vanced Technology, Universiti PutraMalaysia.

Courtesy of Nuclear Malaysia Agency

TheradioisotopeproductionfacilityatMa-

laysiasTriganuclearresearchreactor.Ma -laysiahasnuclearengineersandscientists,butwillneedtotraintheyoungergenera-tionstoprepareforanucleareconomy.

Courtesy of Nuclear Malaysia Agency

HeadquartersoftheNuclearMalaysiaAgencyatBangi,Malaysia.Malay-siasnuclearcommunityiscampaigningtoletthepopulationknowthatnuclearpoweriskeytotheirprosperity.

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