Nuclear for Malaysia

today i was finally convinced that Malaysia should go for nuclear for the sake of a sustainable future.

i used to be skeptical on why should we go for nuclear.

it is expensive and too complicated.

• too complicated meaning that we have to be very careful about the radioactive material.
  
• expensive because the construction of a nuclear plant would need a very comprehensive safety features in order to comply with international standards.
  
• expensive because only special material can be used to manufacture so many parts in the nuclear plant
  
• expensive because this is something very new and malaysia has to start from scratch
  
• too complicated because we do not have enough expertise in the area
  

indeed it is true that nuclear is expensive and complicated. so i ask why we need nuclear?

• malaysia need nuclear to generate electricity in the future. malaysia used to generate electrcity from oil. then oil is replaced by gas because oil is needed for other sectors such as transportation. and petronas need to make some money by exporting the oil. and anyway, malaysia will be net importer of oil in 5 or 6 years from now!
• gas is also running out. by 2019, petronas cannot guarantee a stable supply of gas for the power sector. part of gas has been processed as LNG and are committed for export to japan. since we lend so much money from japan, malaysia just cannot breach the contract of exporting LNG to japan.
• electrcity in malaysia is also being generated through coal. coal is supposed to replace gas when the supply of gas is limited. but malaysia imports all the coal from other countries. we know that china and india is also fighting for the supply of coal. the demand soared so fast that the price of coal is also moving up. 
• environmentally, coal is polluting the air that we breathe. without doubt we don't want anymore haze in KL or elsewhere in malaysia. thus we should not be using so much coal in our power plants. sooner or later, the international world may scrutinze our contribution to the pollution of the world and may be subjected to international sactions.
• what about the sun? solar panel and wind power? the source of energy from solar and wind is jsut not firm. it cannot provide base load power as such coal and gas can provide. indeed, we do not want to see unreliable source of electricity in the country. imagine no wind and no sun for a week. 
• if not nuclear, what option do we have to supply the electrcity being supply by gas and coal which constitute to about 90% of electricity generated today?
• another 10% is from hydro and other small projects (e.g biomass) and it is just not enough. 
• import power from sarawak? how much can we import lest the submarice cable from sarawak to peninsular malaysia fails. even if the cable is a success, peninsular cannot be relying on the interconnection alone. there must be backup from the local power generation.
• i began to wonder.. if not nuclear, what is going to replace the gas that is depleting. coal will be very hard to acquire in the future unless we are willing to pay a very high price. but i dislike coal because it pollutes the air.
• i wonder if we can create a new reliable source of energy.. as much as gas and coal is generating which could total up to over 15,000 MW!
• i ask, can we get the fuel to power up nuclear plant? uranium is still abundance. it can last up for at least 80 years or more once the technology advances. 30 tonnes of nuclear can generate about the same energy as 20 mil tonnes of coal in a year. and nuclear only need refueling every 18 months. that means that malaysia would have to import uranium only every two year. instead of coal which have to be delivered 2 or 3 tiimes a week!
• nuclear is not for now. but for the future. but the groundworks need to start now. because first timer need a lot to learn and will need approval from the world community as nuclear is a very sensistive issue.
• so if someone can provide a solution other than nuclear for the power generation in 20 years to come, we may need not to start with nuclear at all.
• i guess TNB has not find other solution than nuclear, that;s is why i think they are proposing it to the government.
• we should look for solutions that will cater us for many years to come and not just solution for few years.

so i believe that we need nuclear for the future and the government should start from now.