IAEA/RCA REGIONAL TRAINING COURSE IN BASIC OCEAN SAMPLING PRACTICES IN MEMBER STATESMalaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had organized the IAEA / RCA Regional Training Course on Basic Ocean Sampling Practices in Member States on 26th until 30th of May 2013.

Participants   from the Pacific Island Nations (Cook Island, Fiji, Kiribati, Mashall Island, Palau Island and Solomon Island), Sri Lanka and  Malaysian Nuclear Agency had gathered  at Kuala Terengganu for 5 days to meet, network and learn from distinguished local and IAEA experts. This training course has been planned and launched to support the RCA project – Marine benchmark study on the possible impact of the Fukushima radioactive releases in the Asia-Pacific Region (RAS/7/021).

The course was officiated by Y. Bhg. Dr. Muhd Noor bin Muhd Yunus, Deputy Director General, Malaysian Nuclear Agency. Also present at the opening ceremony was the Director of Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Lokman Husain. Dr. Abdul Kadir Ishak as the Project Course Coordinator, in his opening speech hoped that this course will increase the participants’  capability to do sampling and monitoring of radioactivity in marine environment.

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu was chosen as the research training site for this international course for its capability to carry out marine research and its well-equipped facilities that ensured  a condusive location for the participants to conduct research training.  

In general, pollution of marine environments is a global issue threatening the health and productivity of the world's oceans. The most recent Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident on March 2011 has caused world-wide concern for the marine environments. A failure to monitor the marine environment of the coastal zone, recognize and deal with the effects of marine pollution will result in negative impacts at all levels of economic activity, from artisanal and subsistence uses of marine resources to commercial fisheries, fish processing, aquaculture operations and tourism. Therefore, the effort made by IAEA to lead and implement the marine benchmark studies due to Fukushima accident is highly commendable to evaluate the possible impact of the releases of radioactivity into marine environment.

This training course provided basic practical tuition and experience in contemporary ship-based methods for collection and preparation of marine environmental samples such as sediments, seawater and particulate matter in coastal waters for subsequent radionuclide analyses.

It is hoped that the participants had benefitted from the course and will share their knowledge and experience upon returning home and  ultimately be in better position to implement IAEA/RCA projects in their respective countries.Download File

GREEN ENERGY AGENDA FOR THE COUNTRY :Workshop of Expert Group on Energy under JKKPI

Under the purview of Green Technology and Climate Change Council , MOSTI  is entrusted to anchor  Jawatankuasa Kerja Penyelidikan dan Inovasi   or in short JKKPI (Working Group Committee on Research and Innovation) under which, several  Expert Groups are established  to deliberate on the Research and Development activities to support relevant sectors such as energy, waste management, built environment, agriculture, water and biodiversity resources.

Following this initiative, a workshop by the Expert Group on Energy was held from the 21st May to the 22nd May 2013 with the theme of “Green Energy Agenda for the Country”. This workshop which was run jointly by Nuklear Malaysia, TNBR, MIGHT and MOSTI was held in PICC, Putrajaya. The two day’s workshop has successfully pulled a pack of 46 experts, speakers, and participants from various  government agencies, industries,  universities and corporate bodies. 

In line with the terms of reference of the Expert Group, the objectives of this workshop were to reassess the R&D directions, consolidating ideas and setting up collaborations between the research institutions, universities and private entities and ultimately to come out with impactful projects on green energy   with a target of two (2) substantive flagship programmes . It was also hoped that the workshop would establish measures to enhance the success of RE Technology development and deployment in Malaysia, even up to the extent involving policy intervention.