Nuke plant in Port Dickson?

By FMT Staff

PORT DICKSON: The grapevine has it that the coastal town, once a bustling tourist destination but now in the throes of death, could be “nuked” by the government.
Talk is that Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hassan is seriously lobbying Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to site the country’s first nuclear power plant at the Bukit Kepong Lake here.

Telok Kemang MP Kamarul Baharin Abbas, who visited the lake recently, acknowledged the rumour but declined to comment on it

However, the PKR leader said he wanted to know why the Drainage and Irrigation department (JPS) was demolishing the “passageway” in the 50-year-old water catchment.

“I don’t want to speculate. But I have asked JPS to explain why it is demolishing the passageway which controls the dam and keeps the lake from overflowing and flooding the low lying areas.

“We want JPS to explain their rationale for demolishing the bund when the current rain spell is already causing floods in the low-lying oil palm estates,” he said.

“Once they explain, we will know for a fact what their real agenda is,” he said. adding that it was unlikely JPS was carrying out the demolition work for no reason.

“One thing is for sure, they must have a big agenda if they are demolishing a large dam such a this which has been around since merdeka,” he added.

Ideal location

Rumours of a nuclear plant in PD was first reported by blogger Singalautmetro, who is a veteran journalist.

In a posting, the blogger said Malaysian Nuclear Agency director-general Daud Mohamad’s statement that several locations, including those in Negri Sembilan and Perak, were being considered for the proposed nuclear plant further confirmed speculation about the Bukit Kepong lake.

He claimed that Tenaga Nasional Bhd had been given the responsibility of implementing the project. .

According to him, the lake was unique because it was shaped like a cauldron with a depth of 15 metres from its banks.

Its more than 10 kilometres reserve is capable of preparing at least 80 hectares as required for the nuclear plant. This coupled with the lake’s expansive reach of over 1,000 hectares made it suitable for the plant.

The Tuanku Jaffar power station situated nearby also had the right technical specifications needed to support a nuclear power plant.

Explaining further, the blogger claimed that the lake would eventually be as hot as the 1,000 MW power plant and capable of producing 14,000 to 18,000 MW of energy.

Najib is expected to announce the location of the country’s first nuclear power estimated to cost between RM6.5 billion to RM 9.75 billion in 2012. Construction of the power plant is scheduled to begin in 2015.