TNB CEO faces hard time over nuke plant plan
-Malaysiakini.com-
TNB top gun, Che Khalib Mohamed Nor made a futile attempt to justify TNB’s nuclear option even as civil society raised concerns over the possible dangers.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd CEO Che Khalib Mohamed Nor (left) had a tough time convincing participants of a nuclear energy conference to consider nuclear energy as an energy option.
The participants, especially those from the civil society and interested members of the public were not convinced that Malaysia should go nuclear after hearing various speakers on the dangers of the nuclear option.
“Please keep nuclear as an option. We’ll explore and exhaust whatever energy resources available first,” Khalib said.
He was speaking at a one-day conference on Saturday that addressed the question, ‘Does Malaysia need nuclear energy?’ It was organised by Centre for Environment, Technology, Development Malaysia and Physicians for Peace and Social Responsibility (PPSR) in Petaling Jaya.
He also justified nuclear energy as an option as coal would be exhausted by 2014. And by 2025 TNB’s plan is to have a nuclear power plant.
As for hydro power, he added that potential for hydro power is only available in Sarawak.
When the dangers of possible leakages at nuclear power plants were raised, he gave the assurance to the participants that TNB knows how to maintain nuclear power plants.
“We will ask the technology provider how to manage the waste.”
Asked why renewable energy has not been explored further, he told the participants that TNB is looking at the promotion of renewable energy but it is being hindered by higher costs.
He threw a challenge to participants by asking them if they would agree to the removal of petrol subsidies and the imposition of higher electricity tariffs.
When the audience was all for it, the TNB chief said that 99 percent Malaysians would be against that.
Dr Ronald S McCoy of PPSR who chaired the session reiterated at the end of the session that he would call for street protests if the decision makers do not heed the wishes of the people.
“The people must not be in fear of tear gas and water cannons, instead they must be in fear of radiation.”
He also added that the option to go nuclear must be made by Malaysians, not the government or TNB.
McCoy, who also presented a paper, argued that opting for nuclear would not resolve the climate change problem.
Selangor firm against nuke plant
Earlier, during the opening speech, Selangor state exco, Elizabeth Wong confirmed the state government stand of rejecting plans to build a nuclear power plant.
Assuring the participants that Selangor will not accept nuclear energy, she took a jibe at the federal government.
She claimed that the federal government is famous for its flip – flop decisions, hence the need for Selangor to be on its toes over this issue.
[...] to this malaysiakini.com report, “TNB CEO faces hard time over nuke plant plan“, Tenaga Nasional Bhd CEO Che Khalib [...]
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