PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian mechanical engineer has bagged the "largest fish" prize in an international fishing competition held in Russia to highlight the safety of waters near nuclear power plants.
Mohd Fairus Abdul Farid captured a 1.7kg zander (Sander lucioperca), also known as the pikeperch, from Lake Udomlya, located next to Udomlya, a small town about 350km northwest of Moscow, last Tuesday (Oct 6).
His achievement was recorded at the IV International Fishing Tournament organised by Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom).
The event on Sept 29 pitted his skills against 22 amateur anglers from Bangladesh, Belarus, Hungary, Vietnam, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and South Africa.
The Hungarian team won the “Will to Win” award, while the Russian team took home the “Biggest Catch” category by reeling in the largest number of fish species found in Lake Udomlya.
Udomlya town is home to a 4,000-megawatt Kalinin nuclear power plant, a facility that produces electricity transmitted as far as Moscow.
Those who participated in the fishing competition are from countries that have either bought civilian nuclear technology from Rosatom, are in the process of doing so, or are considering nuclear power (such as Indonesia and Malaysia).
Representatives from the Environmental Protection and Radiation Monitoring Department of the Kalinin nuclear power plant were present to assist in measuring the radiation level of the fish caught during the event.
The radiation measurement for the catch was 45 nanosieverts per hour (nSv/h), a very low background radiation reading, given that typical global natural background radiation hovers between 50 and 400 nSv/h. In Petaling Jaya, the readings range from 150 to 400 nSv/h.
“The International Fishing Tournament has become one of Rosatom’s flagship educational events, demonstrating the environmental performance of nuclear energy," said Alexandra Yustus, deputy director-general for communications at the Rosatom International Network private institution.
"Guests can see for themselves that nuclear power plants are environmentally safe and can also serve as drivers of regional development. Events of this kind also demonstrate Rosatom’s openness and help establish a dialogue based on trust with the people of countries embarking on their own nuclear energy projects,” he said in a statement.
When contacted, Fairus, 48, one of Malaysia's few engineers licensed to operate a nuclear reactor, said he became convinced of the lake's safety after witnessing the radiation measuring process and other observations.
"Fish live and reproduce here, and they can be eaten – and this makes me very happy," said the Kedah native who was fishing for the first time in temperatures that dropped as low as 2ºC in the mornings.
According to Rosatom, environmental monitoring results indicate that favourable environmental conditions are being maintained in the area where the Kalinin NPP is located.
"The plant’s impact on surface and groundwater, soil, atmospheric composition, radiation background, and other environmental parameters remains at a minimal level," said the company that is also exhibiting at the ongoing International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia has restarted feasibility assessments under the guidance of the International Atomic Energy Agency to decarbonise its economy, especially in light of the rapid expansion of data centres and nett-zero targets.
Spearheaded by MyPOWER Corporation, which is under the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry, the agency serves as Malaysia’s Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organisation tasked with driving structural reforms in the electricity supply industry.
