COUNTRY REPORT:CURRENT STATE OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGYAPPLICATION IN MALAYSIA

Ts. Dr. Siti A'iasah Hashim
FNCA Country Coordinator of Malaysia
Director General
Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuklear Malaysia)

A. INTRODUCTION

C. SOCIAL WELL-BEING CONTRIBUTION &ACHIEVEMENTSINTRODUCTION
CURRENT STATE OF COVID-19 & NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES•The Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia saw the important
contribution of nuclear science and technology as
follows:i.
Gamma irradiation remains the main preferredsterilization method for medical devices
including surgical gloves and PPEii.
Intensified studies on effect of UVC radiation onmaterial integrity of face mask and protectivesuitiii. Development of ultraviolet C germicidal
irradiation (UVCGI) box•

Presently, Malaysia is moving towards endemic phasewith more than 90% adult population have been fully
vaccinatedINTRODUCTION (CONT.)CONTRIBUTION OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY TO SOCIO-ECONOMIC SECTORSRESEARCH REACTOR UTILIZATION (RRU)•Malaysia has a 1 MW (thermal) TRIGAMark II reactor•

Currently, Malaysia conduct studies onradioisotopes production (177Lu, 51Cr, 165Ho,
14Cu & 153Sm) due to the high interest for
medical radioisotopes•The reactor has also been used for neutron
activation analysis, neutron beam research,and education & training
Visit by MOSTI Minister to TRIGA PUSPATI reactor,
8 November 2021

NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS• Currently, Malaysia conducts astudy on the determination ofpollution sources of heavy, traceand rare earth elements (REEs) insoils samples from the vicinity area
and industrial park to identify thesources of pollution

AVAILABLE ACCELERATORS IN MALAYSIA• Malaysia has 6 accelerators forindustrial applications used formodification of material, sterilizationof medical and food products
whereby two of these accelerators
are owned and operated by Nuklear
Malaysia•

5acceleratorsforradioisotope
production
operated by hospitals

medicalmainlyCyclotron at Beacon HospitalEB machine EPS-3000 from NHV, Japan

Electron irradiation ofsilicon wafer
semiconductor (sc)• Reduction of sc
manufacturing costs(fully integrated
production line for IGBT)• Irradiating over 251,000
pieces of sc since 2014

Crosslinks of wire, cableand heat shrinkable tube
• Add value and quality thatmeets the needs of theautomotive industry(vendor of Proton andPerodua)• Irradiating over 7.3M
meter since 2013

Simultaneous crosslinking
and disinfection of sago
sago hydrogel-basedproducts• IP products have beenpurchased by companies
operating in China• Irradiating 500,000 piecesof sago hydrogel since2015

R&D• Radiation processing toproduce advanced materials
and products• Water and air pollution
treatment applications• Food security• Expertise in DC accelerator
technology

Low Energy Electron Accelerator (LEEA)•Nuklear Malaysia has upgraded LEEA energy from140 keV to 200 keV in 2017•

LEEA has been providing irradiation services internallysince 2019 with more than 600 samples of various
research materials have been irradiated using thisfacility.

•Nuklear Malaysia is verifying LEEA’s dose mapping
throughqualitative
andquantitative
dosemeasurements for various parameters combinations.
The parameters involved are energy parameters,conveyor speed, sample heights from irradiation
windows. This will make LEEA as a trusted irradiation
tool.
LEEA in Nuklear Malaysia

FNCA Excellent
Research TeamAward 2020IAEA/FAO Outstanding
Achievement Awards inMutation Breeding 2021

The launch of the IS21 Padi
Seed by Prime Minister,
Datuk Seri Ismail
Sabri Yaakob,
19 November 2021

ISSUES1. Aging facilities and infrastructure
2. Brain drain (many experts retired)
3. Limited local value chain suppliers
4. Inadequate resources
WAY FORWARD
1. Strengthen national human capital
2. Encourage private partnership to invest in local
industrial accelerators infrastructure
3. Collaboration with local and internationalinstitutions
4. Feasibility study for new facilities

CONCLUSION• The improved situation of Covid-19 has enabled more physicalactivities on nuclear science and technology to be conducted.
• Nuclear science and technology has contributed positively to socioeconomic development of the country.
• FNCA is a good platform to confer and cooperate on tacklingissues in nuclear science applications in the region.
• Malaysia will continue to actively participate in all activities
conducted under the framework of the FNCA.

- Thank You -