Muhamad Samudi Yasir

Malaysian public perception towards nuclear power energy-related issues

Malaysia had considered nuclear energy as an option for future electricity generation during the 9th Malaysia Development Plan. Since 2009, Malaysia had implemented a number of important preparatory steps towards this goal, including the establishment of Nuclear Power Corporation of Malaysia (MNPC) as first Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organization (NEPIO) in Malaysia. In light of the establishment of MNPC, the National Nuclear Policy was formulated in 2010 and a new comprehensive nuclear law to replace the existing Atomic Energy Licensing Act (Act 304) is currently in the pipeline. Internationally, public acceptance is generally used to gauge the acceptance of nuclear energy by the public whenever a government decides to engage in nuclear energy. A public survey was conducted in between 14 March 2016 to 10 May 2016 focusing on the Malaysian public acceptance and perception towards the implementation of nuclear energy in Malaysia. The methodology of this research was aim on finding an overview of...

Instrumental Characterization Of Coir PITH By XRD, FTIR and SEM After Radium Adsorption From Aqueous Solution Under The Presence Of Humic Acids

Adsorption interactions of radium (Ra) ions onto coir pith (CP) under the presence of humic acid (HA) in the aqueous solution were investigated using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques. XRD, IR and SEM characterization of the CP has revealed differences in the native CP and Ra ions loaded CP under the presence of HA in the aqueous solution. The X‐Ray patterns showed that crystalline structure of the loaded CP exhibited a decrease in crystalline structure at around 49°–51° compared with unloaded CP. Characterization by IR revealed that participation of some surface functional groups during the Ra adsorption. SEM images for the morphological studies showed that there were slightly changes of the CP surfaces after the adsorption process.

Public perception toward information and knowledge of nuclear power plant development; A Malaysian case study

Knowledge has been known as a key element in developing support and perception by the public towards any new policy by the government, including the development of nuclear energy. The success of the policy is mainly dependent on public support which is related to the perception cultivated by the knowledge that is already held by the people. A public survey was conducted between 14 March 2016 to 10 May 2016 focusing on the Malaysian public acceptance and perception towards the implementation of nuclear energy in Malaysia (n=1438). This research was aimed on the research question which is ‘Does the level of general knowledge and education regarding nuclear energy in Malaysia influence the acceptance and support of the people to develop nuclear technology?’. These finding suggest that open discourse is a must even at the initial stages of developing a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) program, which will touch on a few points that will assist to society’s knowledge and understanding towards nuclear energy from the aspects of management, safety, radioactive waste, impact on economic competitiveness as well as the benefits and risks regarding the development of NPP. By increasing the knowledge regarding nuclear power and radioactive waste, perception towards the pros of NPP as well as the conviction towards its safety can be increased. It is suggested for the parties involved to use the latest approach of information technology as a way to provide the most effective medium of information dissemination to the public.Knowledge has been known as a key element in developing support and perception by the public towards any new policy by the government, including the development of nuclear energy. The success of the policy is mainly dependent on public support which is related to the perception cultivated by the knowledge that is already held by the people. A public survey was conducted between 14 March 2016 to 10 May 2016 focusing on the Malaysian public acceptance and perception towards the implementation of nuclear energy in Malaysia (n=1438). This research was aimed on the research question which is ‘Does the level of general knowledge and education regarding nuclear energy in Malaysia influence the acceptance and support of the people to develop nuclear technology?’. These finding suggest that open discourse is a must even at the initial stages of developing a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) program, which will touch on a few points that will assist to society’s knowledge and understanding towards nuclear energy from the a...

Leaching properties of Cs-134 from spent ion exchange resins solidified in cement-biochar matrix

The leaching properties of Cs-134 from spent ion exchange resins solidified in cement-biochar matrix were investigated. The leaching test was conducted according to ANSI/ANS 16.1 method. The leachants used in this experiment were rainwater, groundwater and seawater. After each leach period, the activity of Cs-134 was measured using gamma spectrometry. Based on all the experimental data, the cumulative leach fraction and leachability index were calculated. The compressive strength test of the cement-biochar-spent resins matrices after 90 days of leaching test were also measured. The result showed that the release of Cs-134 from the cement-biochar-spent resins matrices in rainwater, groundwater and seawater were found lower than their control specimen (without biochar). The leachability indices of Cs-134 were found acceptable (i.e. 6) for solidified radioactive waste. It was also observed that the compressive strengths were increased after the leaching test. Thus, this study has shown that the presence of b...

Concentration of trace elements on branded cigarette in Malaysia

Tobacco is a plant that is used as a recreational drug since the beginning of its use by the Native Americans. Now with the development of the tobacco industry, smoking has become a norm for the public in Malaysia. Trace elements in plants are mostly due to the uptake processes from the soils into the roots of the plants. The concentration of the elements may also be influenced by the elements contained in the water and also fertilizers. This paper aim to analyze the concentration of the trace elements contained in the branded cigarettes sold in Malaysia by utilizing the neutron activation analysis. The tobaccos were taken out from the cigarettes. The collected samples were air dried and passed through 2 mm sieve. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has been used for the determination of trace elements. Samples were activated in the Nuclear Malaysia Triga Mark II reactor with a neutron flux of 2.0 x 1012 n cm-2 s-1. The samples then were analyzed using ORTEC Gamma Spectrometer a co-axial n-type...

The effect of gamma irradiation on chitosan and its application as a plant growth promoter in Chinese kale (Brassica alboglabra)

This research project was conducted to study the effects of irradiation on chitosan and its potential application as a plant growth promoter. Chitosan in the form of flakes was irradiated with gamma rays at irradiation dosage of 50 kGy, 100 kGy, 200 kGy and 400 kGy. The effect of irradiation on chitosan in terms of intrinsic viscosity and average molecular weight was measured using Ubbelohde capillary viscometry technique and the results obtained showed irradiation at doses of up to 50 kGy had caused an extremely significant reduction of both parameters and this trend continued at higher irradiation doses, although the decrease were not significant. The effect of various concentrations of chitosan and irradiated chitosan on growth promotion of Chinese kale (Brassica alboglabra) was hydroponically grown and cultivated for 50 days. Statistical analysis showed addition of 10 ppm of irradiated chitosan of 200 kGy and 400 kGy, respectively, resulted in an extremely significant increase in the percentage weight gain of Chinese kale (Brassica alboglabra). Results obtained in this study showed the potential use of irradiated chitosan as a plant growth promoter for plants grown hydroponically.

Solidification of radioactive waste resins using cement mixed with organic material

Solidification of radioactive waste resins using cement mixed with organic material i.e. biochar is described in this paper. Different percentage of biochar (0%, 5%, 8%, 11%, 14% and 18%) was investigated in this study. The characteristics such as compressive strength and leaching behavior were examined in order to evaluate the performance of solidified radioactive waste resins. The results showed that the amount of biochar affect the compressive strength of the solidified resins. Based on the data obtained for the leaching experiments performed, only one formulation showed the leached of Cs-134 from the solidified radioactive waste resins.

The characteristic assessment of spent ion exchange resin from PUSPATI TRIGA REACTOR (RTP) for immobilization process

In this paper, spent ion exchange resin generated from PUSPATI TRIGA reactor (RTP) in Malaysian Nuclear Agency were characterized based on the water content, radionuclide content and radionuclide leachability. The result revealed that the water content in the spent resin is 48%. Gamma spectrometry analysis indicated the presence of 134Cs, 137Cs, 152Eu, 54Mn, 58Co, 60Co and 65Zn. The leachability test shows a small concentrations (<1 Bq/l) of 152Eu and 134Cs were leached out from the spent resin while 60Co activity concentrations slightly exceeded the limit generally used for industrial wastewater i.e. 1 Bq/l. Characterization of spent ion exchange resin sampled from RTP show that this characterization is important as a basis to immobilize this radioactive waste using geopolymer technology.

Investigation of the dependence of inactivation coefficient on pertinent physical quality parameters to low doses ionizing radiation.

Inactivation constant for V79 cells has been extracted from radiobiology experiments that utilize charged particles to irradiate mammal cells in vitro. Physical parameters such as effective charge, radiation mean free path and linear ionization which characterized protons and heluim-4 particles are determined using of standard values. The relationship between inactivation constant α and physical quality parameters have been determined, in this research, for protons and heluim-4 particles. This approach allows getting the characteristic biological response of inactivation of V79 cells in terms of each selected physical quality parameter. The best regression models are formulated for each obtained relationship.

Physical Parameters that Influence the Effectiveness of Ionizing Radiation at Low Doses

Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for the inactivation of V79 cells were determined using the initial slopes of survival curves (published in literature), the physical quality parameters are interpolated utilizing the standard values relevant to charged particles such as protons and heliums. The issues of utilizing physical parameters as quantifier of radiation effects that influence the effectiveness have been investigated. The results show that the effectiveness may represent in terms of other physical parameters rather than linear energy transfer (LET). Meanwhile, mean free path for linear primary ionization (λ) is expressed the generalized specifier physical quality parameter to quantify ionizing radiation effects at lower doses. Therefore, plot of mean free path as a function of RBE has been made to identify the physical features of this parameter as an alternative physical quality for LET.