PUTRAJAYA, May 6 — Malaysia, through the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), is committed to meeting its international obligations, including in matters pertaining to controlling the emission of radionuclides from nuclear installations, into the environment.
It said, during normal operations, a nuclear installation will release part of radionuclides, including tritium, into the environment, usually into rivers, sea and the air and any emissions done need to follow international standards and conditions set by a country’s authorities.
“In line with international practice, Malaysia has set a radiation dose level so that the effective dose the public is exposed to from the emission of radionuclides into the environment does not exceed 1 millisievert a year (mSv/year),” the board said in a statement today.
The Japanese government was reported to have recently approved plans to release a million tonnes of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear reactor into the sea.
According to the AELB, the Japanese suggestion was viewed positively by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its report titled, “IAEA Follow-up Review of Progress Made on Management of ALPS Treated Water and the Report of the Subcommittee on Handling of ALPS treated water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station”, dated April 2, 2020.
The board added that the IAEA, in its report, stated that the suggestion by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) Subcommittee was based on a thorough analysis of convincing scientific and technical basis and the IAEA also found the suggestion to be in line with international best practices.
As such, the AELB as the country’s atomic energy monitoring body will always adhere to the standards suggested by the IAEA and will maintain a similar view as the international agency.
“Malaysia, through the AELB, will monitor the developments of this issue from time to time through continuous radiology and environmental monitoring,” the statement read. — Bernama
