IN the book Power Builds The Nation, writer Muzaffar Tate says: "If Ramanath had had his way, Malaysia today would already possess its first nuclear power station, sited most probably at Lumut or Port Klang."

Tate was referring to A. Ramanath, then chief engineer (generation) and deputy general manager (planning and construction division) of the National Electricity Board, the forerunner of Tenaga Nasional Berhad. The book was published in 1991.

Saying oil prices would continue to rise, Ramanath had argued, in 1968, that overdependence on oil for power generation would pose a predicament in later years.

Ramanath, it turns out, was quite prescient.

Malaysia's dalliance with atomic energy started in the mid-1950s. The British colonialists, chiefly those associated with the Central Electricity Board, suggested nuclear energy as an electricity generation option for the future.
The first national leader to openly talk about it was probably (Tun) Tan Siew Sin who advocated the introduction of nuclear power in a speech in 1957. Nothing came of it, though, and the idea lay dormant until Ramanath came on the scene.

The NEB board, powered-up by his electrifying reasoning, established a nuclear division in 1972. Ramanath figured Malaysia would be able to produce nuclear energy in 1986. But, it was not to be. For in 1980, the cabinet, influenced by the discovery of large reserves of oil and gas within Malaysian waters, and fear of a public backlash against building a nuclear plant, ordered the NEB to scrap the division. A powerless NEB yielded.

Then began the country's love affair with Petronas, the national oil company, and the nuclear option receded into the background, to be flashed now and then to tease the public.

On June 19, 1981, for instance, then NEB chief executive Tan Sri Abu Zarim Omar said nuclear power might be included in its energy strategy "in a few years".

On Oct 13, 1988, the then minister of energy, telecommunications and posts, (Tan Sri ) Leo Moggie told a national energy conference that nuclear power was not an option at least until the early part of the next century.

In 1989, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to co-operate in the development of nuclear energy for long-term power generation. Nothing came of it, too.

In the 1990s, the then energy, posts and telecommunications minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu tried to launch the nuclear option.

On Oct 5, 1992, he said: "My ministry has already completed a study on the nuclear power plant option. To have such a plant in the year 2000, we must start working from now."

Five days later, however, then prime minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad nuked Samy Vellu's plan. Dismissing the idea, he said it would only be considered if all other options failed.

Now, with oil prices sky-rocketing, the nation is back discussing the possibility of a nuclear reactor to produce power. On June 21, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government was willing to consider nuclear energy, but only after exhausting other options.

Both Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof and TNB vice-president (Supply) Ab'llah Mohd Salleh think it is the most viable option in the long-term.

How does Ramanath, now 87, feel about it?

"If we had gone ahead then, power generation would be cheaper today. Two of the 11 sites we identified were accepted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and NEB officials had gone for conferences and plant visits to prepare for the programme."

The nuclear option, he adds, is not "something simple".

"If the government decides to go ahead, it must first carry out a total audit of the country's requirement for power; it has to look into factors such as the availability of capable staff. It must think of a long-term programme, not a one-off plant," he cautions.

This much is certain though: The nuclear option will be bandied about with added ardour, but nothing will come of it. Unless, perhaps, another Ramanath comes on the scene.