Four-nation exercise to boost regional nuclear security

The Star

12 hours ago

JOHOR BARU: Malaysia is intensifying efforts to prevent the smuggling of radioactive materials through its borders through a high-level international field training exercise in Johor this week.
The Nuclear Security Detection Exercise, Malaysia-Indonesia-Thailand-Singapore 2025 (Mitsatom 2025) will focus on nuclear security awareness, border surveillance and response coordination to incidents involving illicit trafficking of radioactive materials.
Atomic Energy Department (Atom Malaysia) deputy director-general Monalija Kostor said a training exercise would be held under Mitsatom on Thursday (July 10) at a maritime jetty in Gelang Patah.
She added that ahead of Thursday's drill, the programme will include tabletop simulation exercises on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 8 and 9) as well as a nuclear security talk to raise awareness among participants and observers from all four participating nations.
'The training aims to assess cross-border communication and emergency responses involving the detection and interdiction of radioactive material smuggling.
"The simulation scenarios involve land and maritime smuggling routes shared by Malaysia and its neighbours.
'These include land borders with Thailand and Singapore as well as maritime borders with Indonesia as potential trafficking routes,' she told the press after the launch of Mitsatom 2025 by Johor education and information committee chairman Aznan Tamin at a hotel here on Monday (July 7).
Mitsatom is Malaysia's fourth international nuclear security exercise since 2015, making it one of the most active countries in South-East Asia in countering nuclear smuggling, she added.
Earlier drills were conducted with Thailand in 2015 and 2016 focusing on land border interdiction, while in 2018, Malaysia hosted a maritime-focused drill with Indonesia and the Philippines in Kota Kinabalu.
'This year's exercise is especially comprehensive, combining both land and sea interdiction scenarios to test preparedness across multiple border types.
'We have designed four smuggling scenarios where radioactive materials are successfully intercepted and returned to the authorities,' Monalija said.
The training exercises also help Malaysian authorities and their counterparts in the region to ensure that radioactive sources remain under legal control and do not fall into the wrong hands, she added.
'Our top priority is to ensure radioactive materials are tightly regulated, and that our borders remain secure against nuclear threats,' she said.