NGOs: Gov't secretly pushing nuclear plants

A coalition today revealed that the government has secretly pushed for its nuclear power plants project and has preliminarily identified the potential sites for them, despite objections from the ground.
 
The government, through the Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation (MNPC), has identified seven sites for twin-unit nuclear power plants, said Malaysian Coalition Against Nuclear (MyCan) spokeperson Dr Ronald McCoy.
 
The seven sites located are in four states - one in Kedah and two each in Perak, Terengganu and Johore, he said in a press conference.
 
McCoy said five sites are located near the coastal areas, while two sites are located inland - Tasik Temenggor in Perak and Tasik Kenyir in Terengganu, as a massive amount of water is needed to cool down the twin reactors.
 
He said the coalition had obtained this accurate information within a month, but was not able to reveal its sources and the exact potential areas to protect its sources.
 
Despite the recent nuclear disaster in Japan, he said, the Malaysian government went ahead to secretly proceed with its nuclear power plant plans, apparently not able at all to learn from previous bad experiences.

In Dec 2010, the government said it had planned to build twonuclear power plants that would generate 1,000 megawatts each, one by 2021 and the second a year later.

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