Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 8 August 2014.
BN is gambling with Malaysians’ health and safety by entering into a compact with disaster that puts profits over people by stubbornly persisting with its plans to build 2 nuclear power reactors. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong had urged critics of nuclear energy to keep an open mind as Malaysia cannot continue on an energy status quo. According to Mah, “Natural gas now provides 40% of our electricity supply whilst coal provides nearly 50%. By 2020, only 27% will be from natural gas and 60% coal. For that reason nuclear energy is a serious option for sustainability of energy resources.”
Mah is wrong because Malaysia will be able to shift to a sustainable energy paradigm without relying on nuclear power plants if the government wipes out corruption, invests on renewable energy projects, diversifies their domestic economies, reduces their reliance on hydrocarbon resources. Lest Mah forgets about the risks of nuclear energy, more than 150,000 evacuees are still unable to return home after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 following the huge earthquake and tsunami. Japan is still dealing with contaminated groundwater around the Fukushima nuclear power plants everyday.
Further talk of energy resources sustainability is contradictory when Malaysia enjoys a high energy reserve margin of over 30%. BN’s decision to proceed with its proposed 2 nuclear power plants is highly irresponsible about the dangers, safety and environmental concerns, especially when BN can not even ensure uninterrupted water supply, which is a key component to cool and clean nuclear power reactors.
Both the PR Penang state government and the DAP have adopted a firm and uncompromising stand against nuclear reactors due to its unsustainable costs, huge environmental and humanitarian risks. The Penang state government had written to the then Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Peter Chin, on 21 March 2011 opposing the building of any nuclear plant in Malaysia and the ban of any such facility in Penang.
Peter Chin had then replied on 20 April 2011 that the Federal government will abide by the Penang state government’s ban by not building any nuclear energy reactor in Penang. Does that mean that those living in BN-controlled state would be subjected to having nuclear reactors in their midst?
1. Nuclear Energy is not cheap
The nuclear industry has by necessity been a primarily state-dominated industry, artificially sustained by huge subsidies that forces the public to guarantee their profits. In February 2010, US President Obama announced a $5.4 billion loan for a nuclear plant in Burke County, Georgia, with taxpayers assuming 80% of the financial risk. The World Bank says nuclear power is ‘not the least-cost option’ and has not financed a nuclear reactor project since 1959, the first and only time it has done so.
2: Nuclear energy is not clean
The estimated overall emissions of a ‘full nuclear cycle’ — from mining uranium, to nuclear enrichment, and conversion of the enriched stockpile into fuel, followed by the disposal of radioactive waste – proves that the technology has been far from ‘carbon-neutral’.A 1,000-megawatt nuke plant generates 30 tons of highly radioactive waste each year that remains radioactive for half a million years.
3: Nuclear energy is not safe
Fukushima disaster exposes the safety myth. High-level waste from nuclear power plants must be stored underground for more than 100,000 years before its radioactivity declines to safe levels. The safe storage of such nuclear waste remains to be an unsolved challenge, The exorbitant environmental risks and financial burden associated with building, maintaining, and decommissioning nuclear power plants would pass on to future generations.
Besides, how can BN be trusted to ensure the safety and health standards of such a dangerous and high risk project like nuclear plants, when the BN government cannot even build a stadium without its roof collapsing or the roof of Parliament leaking? How can we trust the BN government when they can not even come clean about the Permanent Deposit Facility (PDF) of radioactive waste produced by Lynas in Gebeng, Kuantan?
BN and Mah’s commitment towards nuclear energy defies logic when the No.1 nuclear energy producer in the world, Germany, is shutting down all nuclear reactors by 2022. Need Mah be reminded that he was elected by a slim majority in Teluk Intan not to build nuclear energy reactors but to fight for more democratic space and justice?
Lim Guan Eng
—-Mandarin Version —
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2014年8月8日在吉隆坡发表声明:
国阵利益至上、而不是人民为先，做出灾难性的决定，把马来西亚人民的健康及安全赌上，固执地坚持要兴建两座核能发电厂。
国阵利益至上、而不是人民为先，做出灾难性的决定，把马来西亚人民的健康及安全赌上，固执地坚持要兴建两座核能发电厂。首相署部长拿督斯里马袖强昨天促请核能的批评者继续保持开放态度，因为马来西亚不能维持目前这种能源使用的现状。马袖强说：“目前供应我国电力的原料中，天然气占40%、煤炭占近乎50%。到了2020年，将转变成27%来自天然气，60%来自煤炭。因此，核能是维持能源永续的重要选项。”
马袖强错了，如果政府肃贪、投资在可再生能源项目、让国内经济多元化、减少对碳氢化合物的依赖，马来西亚能够转型到可持续能源的模式中。为免马袖强忘了核能的危机，他应该要知道2011年日本福岛因地震海啸发生核灾后，目前尚有15万居民无家可归。日本当局每天还在处理着核电厂附近受污染的地下水。
再说，马来西亚拥有30%的储备电量，目前谈论能源可持续有点自相矛盾。国阵决定要继续兴建两座核电厂是不负责任的，他们不顾人民对安危及环境的担忧，毕竟国阵现在都不能确保水供不中断，而水源正好是冷却及清理核反应堆的重要元素。
槟州民联政府及行动党已经采纳了一个坚定及不妥协的立场，反对核能发电厂，因为它的成本算起来不可持续、也让环境及人道面对极高的风险。槟州政府已经在2011年3月21日致函能源、绿色工艺及水务部长陈华贵，表达我们反对在马来西亚兴建核电厂，也禁止槟城兴建相关设施。
陈华贵在2011年4月20日的回信中表示，联邦政府将遵守槟州政府的禁令，不在槟城兴建任何核电厂。这是否意味着那些居住在国阵州属的人民，就会面对核电厂兴建于他们家附近？
1. 核能不便宜
核能工业向来就是国家主导的工业，由巨额的政府津贴来维持，并且令公众保障他们的利益。2010年2月，美国总统奥巴马宣布贷款54亿美元给乔治亚布克，纳税人假定其财务风险高达80%。世界银行也说，核能不是“成本较低的选择。”，自1959年以来，它只出资协助建过一座核电厂，也是史上唯一的一次。
2: 核能不干净
核能完整的排放周期：从铀的开采、核浓缩、把提纯或同位素分离后的铀加工成为燃料、放射性废物处理与处置，都一再证明它不是“碳中和”的科技。一座发电1000兆瓦的核电厂每年生产30吨的放射性废料，其放射性物质可存在于地球上50万年。
3: 核能不安全
福岛核灾明确的反驳这一点。核能厂所产出的高辐射废料必须存储在地底下超过10万年，好让它的辐射降回安全水平。如何安全地收藏核废料还是非常艰难的挑战。核电厂的兴建、维持、拆卸伴随着的高昂代价，包括环境风险及财政负担，将转嫁给下一代去承担。
再说，当国阵政府连兴建一座体育馆和装修国会，都有屋顶坍塌或漏水的问题，我们要如何相信国阵会确保核电厂这种危险及高风险的工程符合安全及健康标准？当国阵连关丹莱纳斯的废料处置设备（PDF）都没有交代清楚时，我们要如何相信国阵？
国阵和马袖强信誓旦旦地推举核电厂是不逻辑的，世界第一核能生产者已经德国都已经公布在2022年全面撤核。 马袖强是不是忘了，在安顺补选中他仅以微差获胜，他要做的不是兴建核电厂，而是争取更多的民主空间和公义？
林冠英