PUTRAJAYA: Premises having radioactive substances for permitted purposes are required to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for security control compliance to prevent the substances from ending up with irresponsible parties.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also Home Minister, said the safety of radioactive substances should not be taken lightly as these could be turned into nuclear weapons which could cause massive destruction if they fell into the wrong hands. He said based on the resolutions of the Nuclear Safety Summit 2016 in Washington DC, United States, recently, 53 nations including Malaysia voiced the fear of radioactive subtances falling into the wrong hands and wanted early measures taken to address this fear.
“We (Malaysia) have an SOP to ensure safety at any premises keeping radioactive substances.
“If the SOP is not followed or taken lightly, we fear the substances could fall into the hands of irresponsible parties, and the safety risk is very high,” he told a press conference after the Home Ministry’s monthly assembly, here, yesterday.
Ahmad Zahid said the related parties such as companies, hospitals, pharmacies and higher education institutions which had radioactive substances for purposes that were allowed should tighten security control at their premises by adhering to the SOP set.
“Security control does not necessarily require the permanent presence of the police and security guards at the locations but in the form of more high- definition closed circuit television cameras, while these locations must also be fenced up and can only be entered by authorised individuals.”
Ahmad Zahid said to ensure security in this case would be at optimum level, the Home Ministry would cooperate closely with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) in monitoring the security control compliance. — Bernama