Malaysia builds nuclear safety base before any reactor decision

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (MNTV) — Malaysia’s nuclear ambitions have entered a serious evaluation phase, but the government’s immediate task is not picking a reactor or announcing a plant, according to The Vibes.

It is building the institutional, regulatory, and safety foundations that must exist before any decision to introduce nuclear power.

MyPOWER Corporation, an agency under the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA), is leading the preparatory work as the country’s designated Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organisation, consulting firm 27 Advisory said.

That places Malaysia’s process in line with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Milestones Approach, the standard framework for countries weighing civilian nuclear programs.

Under it, Malaysia will assess whether it has the necessary capabilities across national policy, legal and regulatory systems, feasibility, financing, industrial readiness, stakeholder engagement, and a skilled workforce. PETRA stressed that no final decision has been made, with nothing yet settled on reactor technology, capacity, or timelines.

The priority is to establish whether the country can build the full safety architecture before investment becomes hard to reverse.

Malaysia is not starting from zero. It has more than four decades of nuclear experience through the TRIGA PUSPATI research reactor in Bangi, running since 1982, which has supported research, training, and isotope production.

The National Nuclear Technology Policy 2030, introduced in 2023, promotes peaceful nuclear applications across healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and environmental management.

But officials acknowledge that a commercial power program is a far larger undertaking, demanding independent regulatory oversight, reactor safety management, radioactive waste disposal, emergency response, safeguards, financing, grid readiness, specialized manpower, and sustained public acceptance.