Malaysia had been a supportive partner of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said here on Wednesday.
Malaysia was a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and signed the additional protocol in November 2005, ElBaradei said in his speech to a public lecture organized by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.
The IAEA had a significant technical cooperation program in Malaysia, i.e., the use of isotope hydrology in Malaysia to combat groundwater contamination in industrial sites, he said.
The IAEA was also supporting the establishment of a Malaysian cyclotron facility for radioisotope production as well as the establishment of a laboratory for the application of radiation in nanotechnology, he said.
The IAEA chief also said that Malaysia, like many other countries, faced complex choices in its plans to expand energy mix and energy security.
ElBaradei said that more than 90 percent of the country's electricity was generated from fossil fuels, primarily natural gas from domestic reserves.
Decrease in natural gas reserves and rising electricity demand had forced the country to look at other ways to ensure its future energy security, he said.
The IAEA was standing ready to assist Malaysia in finding solutions to its energy demand, he added.
Malaysia is reportedly working on a comprehensive energy policy, including consideration of nuclear power. ElBaradei said that nuclear energy alone was not a panacea, but it was likely to have an increasing role as part of the global energy mix in the future.
