No Pressing Need For Malaysia To Adopt Nuclear Power Says Anwar

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Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is currently on a three-day working visit to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum 2025. (Bernama pic)
DAVOS: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said there is no “pressing need” for Malaysia to adopt nuclear power as it still sees much potential in solar power and the Asean Power Grid.
However, he did not dismiss the possibility of having the energy, especially with Malaysia’s massive data centres in the pipeline.
“But notwithstanding, just to make sure because the consuming (energy) of data centres is huge and in every meeting… people have been suggesting they want to put up small modular reactors (SMRs), and I don’t want to frustrate them because that’s part of the overall artificial intelligence requirements, which means that the nuclear option is there.
“I know Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia have embarked on this and I’m trying to get us to work together to show that we have a better budgeting position,” he told a media briefing at the World Economic Forum 2025 here on Tuesday when asked whether Malaysia was looking at promoting nuclear power, especially SMRs.
Anwar is currently on a three-day working visit to attend the World Economic Forum 2025 – his first since becoming prime minister in 2022.
SMRs, which are capable of producing around 300 megawatts of electricity, can be integrated into existing building infrastructures or connected to the national grid with a relatively smaller footprint and cost.
It is said that SMRs can offer a potential alternative for data centres that need reliable and scalable power. - FMT

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