Malaysian Nuclear Agency

Nuclear Malaysia History

Nuclear Malaysia (formerly known as MINT) was established in 1972 as the Tun Ismail Atomic Research Centre (PUSPATI). Infrastructural development on the 27-hectare at Bangi commenced in January 1979, culminating in its coming into full operation in June 1982 with the commissioning of its nuclear research reactor. PUSPATI was later renamed the Nuclear Energy Unit (UTN) in June 1983 on being placed under the auspices of the Prime Minister's Department. In October 1990, UTN was retransferred to the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, and assumed its new identity as MINT in 10 August 1994. In the quest for a distinct separation of roles between promotional and regulatory functions, UTN formulated Act 304, the Atomic Energy Licensing Act of 1984, paving the way for the establishment of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board as a separate entity, in February 1985.
To satisfy growing needs for additional space, a second 81-hectare, Kompleks Dengkil, site was acquired in 1984. Both Bangi and Dengkil complexes, approximately 3 km. apart and flanking the North-South Highway, are strategically located within the nation's premier research and training zone, in close proximity to two universities and three national research and development (R&D) institutes. Within a half hour drive from MINT is Kuala Lumpur, the seat of the Federal Government, the administrative, financial and business capital of Malaysia, and home to two other universities and another four national R&D institutes. Malaysia, in turn, is strategically located at a major global crossroads, the heart of one of the most rapidly growing regions of the world, fast moving into the Pacific Era.