70 RADIOACTIVE DOSE MAPPING OF INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY USING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) Ahmad Hasnulhadi Che Kamaruddin, Syirrazie Che Soh, Nur Aira Abd Rahman, Ahmad Bazlie Abdul Kadir, Faizal Azrin Abdul Razalim, Nazran Harun, Azmi Ibrahimand Mohamad Suhaimi Yahaya ABSTRACT Radioactive dose mapping is were used among researchers or scientists to analyse, represent and visualize radiation dose rate or contaminated radioactive materials in order to have better understanding of radiation exposure patterns or potential risks in specific locations. Instead of local interpolation methods such as natural neighbour, spline, kriging and the others, Inverse Distance Weighting or IDW is an interpolation technique that commonly used to estimate values at unknown locations based on observations from nearby known locations (Jongkwan Kim, 2022). It can be done by assigning more weight to nearby known points and less to those farther away, resulting in a smooth interpolated surface. So, the equation of Inverse Distance Weighting can be written as below (Chong, 2022). Instead of complying with licensing purpose for the storage facility which also related to the radiological monitoring program, the information from radiation dose interpolation can be beneficial for the operator to visualize the dose based on its risk pattern from low to high dose rate This study is only limited to the interim storage facility at Block 33 Nuclear Malaysia where the most of radioactive wastes collected throughout peninsularMalaysia including Sabahand Sarawak are stored.
71 OPTIMIZATION OF Si BACK-TO-BACK SCHOTTKY JUNCTION DIODE PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY PROCESS Nor Norizam Saad, Shaharin Fadzli Abd Rahman, Umi Zulaikha Mohd Azmi, AbdulManaf Hashim, Ishak Mansor, Muhammad Haziq Sayuti, Khairol Nizam Mohamed, Mohamad Azman Che Mat Isa and Shukri Mohd ABSTRACT In this paper, we discussed the photolithography process optimization of silicon (Si) back-to-back schottky diode (BBSD) using the photolithography system available at Semiconductor Nuclear Detector Fabrication Laboratory in Malaysian Nuclear Agency. The parameters affecting BBSD pattern developed on Si sample or substrate from identical to the BBSD pattern on the photomask are thoroughly analyzed and an economic approach improving the photolithography process is presented. Keywords: Photolithography process, mask aligner, transfer pattern
72 RADIATION MEASURING INSTRUMENT FOR EDUCATIONAL TOOLS Mohd Shafiq bin Sazali, Lojius bin Lombigit, Maslina binti Mohd Ibrahim, Nor Arymaswati binti Abdullah, Nur Aira binti Abd Rahman, Nolida binti Yussup, Noor Farhana Husna binti A. Aziz, Nabilah binti Ramli, Habibah binti Adnan, Norzehan binti Ngadiron, Mohd Hafizal bin Yusof, Azraf bin Azman, Shalina binti Sheik Muhamad and Mohd Taufik bin Dolah ABSTRACT Following the incident at Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011, it has brought an awareness to society that nuclear radiation protection is one of the important aspects especially to countries which have nuclear power plants (Mari Yamaguchi. 2023). When talking about radiation, wewill know that alpha, beta and gamma are three most common types. To detect these radiations, there are numerous instruments used, but one of the most common is called as survey meter. Survey meter or known as radiation detector is a battery-operated portable device which is used to detect and measure levels of radiation in microsieverts per hour (μSv/hr). Known to be widely used in radiation measuring devices, due to its portable and easy to use (Lawrence J. Fennelly CPOI et al. 2018). There are various types of survey meters that have been used and one of the most popular is the scintillation counter. This detector is used in the measurement of alpha, beta and neutron particles. Survey meters can be differentiated on the type of detectors used. There are several detectors available which are solid state detector, scintillation detector, neutron detector and gas. Nowadays, survey meters are imported from overseas due to high market prices. Thus, the Information Management Division (BPM) has approached the Instrumentation and Automation Centre (PIA) to design a system specifically for learning and teaching in schools. The surveymeter specifications need to follow all the education and teaching standards and most importantly is the price needs to be budget friendly. The Instrumentation and Automation Centre (PIA) then took the initiative to produce a radiation survey meter at a reasonable cost. Thus, this research is to design and fabricate the survey meters specifically on the circuit design, printed circuit board (PCB) design, data processing and casing design.
73 HARI KETIGA KATEGORI PEMBENTANGAN LISAN
74 AUTHENTICATION OF MALAYSIAN HONEY USING STABLE ISOTOPE TECHNIQUES Salmah Moosa, Mohd Hidayat Adenan, Nurul Elma Sabri, Rafiah Mohamed Roshidi and Maizatul Akmam Mohd Nasir ABSTRACT Honey is nature’s most gratifying hand-out which comes power packed with health benefits, and it is one of the top ten most falsified food products in Europe (N.L. García, 2018). Honey adulteration ranks third in the food fraud database of the United States Pharmacopeia, after milk and olive oil. In Malaysia, about 80% of the honey in Malaysian market is direct adulteration with sugar which can be harmful to the health of consumers especially diabetics (Elfl ein and Raezke, 2008; Tosun, 2013). While indirect adulteration occurs when the honeybees are fed with sucrose or other sugars by irresponsible beekeepers due to the demand of a competitive market. The most widely used method for honey analysis is undoubtedly chromatographic technique using LCMS and GCMS, but they are generally time-consuming, expensive, and require skilled operators. But these techniques are unable to distinguish honey from bees fed with sugar. Also, according to Aries et al. (2016) a database for honey samples, sugar syrups and bee feeding products is needed. IRMS is quite a well-established technique in the field of food authenticity because not only it can detect added sugar, but it can also determine the origin of the honey product (Kuballa et al., 2018, PitaCalvo and Vázquez, 2017). The purpose of this method is to detect sugars from C4 plants (sugar cane) in honey. According to this procedure, honey is adulterated, if the C4 sugar percentage is ≥ 7%. honey involving the addition of sugar. The aim of the present study is to determine the C4 sugars in multifloral honey samples from Malaysia and to find a possible correlation between these two parameters.
75 SCREENING METHODS FOR SELECTING DROUGHT (REPRODUCTIVE) AND SUBMERGENCE (VEGETATIVE) TOLERANCE TRAITS FROM F3 MUTANT RICE MAPPING POPULATION Faiz bin Ahmad, Siti Nurdiyana binti Yusof, Mohd Sharkawi bin Ahmad, James Mackester anak Simoli, Muhammad Ruzaini bin Abdul Wahab, Affrida binti Abu Hassan, Dr. Wan Dalila binti Wan Chik, Mohammad Malek Faizal bin Azizi, Dr. Asma binti Aris, Dr. Sobri bin Hussein and Dr. Abdul Rahim bin Harun ABSTRACT Drought and submergence are abiotic factors recently limiting rice production in Malaysia. Developing screening techniques for selecting the individuals or lines in the rice mapping populationis crucial. The F3 mapping population needed many lines, and the minimum number of samples to run the genetic mapping experiment was 300 lines. The precise screening method for selecting rice lines in drought and submergence is needed to help the breeders identify the tolerant lines that will be used for further selection. For the development of mapping population, F2 derived F3 population (F2:3) population is the best population mapping since the DNA and quantitative traits data can be bulk from multiple plants from each F3 line. Drought screening was conducted at the rice field sincemany spaces were needed for planting all the lines. The positive check (NMR152) and negative check(MR219) were planted in between 20 mutant lines. The watermark was put randomly in a few placesto represent the soil moisture condition during drought stress. The water will flash out 35 days aftertransplanting, and the soil moisture content was maintained below (-30kPa) until the drought was imposed during the reproductive stage. Physiological traits such as chlorophyll content and leaf rolling were recorded during drought stress. Furthermore, agro-morphological data were collectedwith positive and negative check variety during harvesting. Next, submergence screening of the mapping population can be conducted at the glasshouse because
76 the screening process is during thevegetative stage. The seeds of rice lines were sowed together with the positive check (NMR152 and IR64sub-1) and negative check (MR220CL2) in the tray (40 x 30) cm. After 18 days, the seedling andtray were submerged in an 80 cm tank filled with water for 14 days. The dissolved oxygen of water in the tanks were recorded at days 0, 4, 8, and 12 days aftersubmergence. The survivalrate (SR) wasrecorded 10 days after de-submergence, and survival lines were transferred to the field to evaluate agro-morphological traits. Thus, this paper will discuss drought and submergence stress screening techniques in the F3 mutant rice mapping population. Keywords: Abiotic stress, Drought, Mapping Population, Mutant Rice, Submergence ABSTRAK Kemarau dan banjir adalah faktor abiotik yang menghadkan mengehadkan pengeluaran padi di Malaysia sejak kebelakangan ini. Pembanguanan teknik penyaringan untuk pemilihan individu atau titian dalam populasi pemetaan padi adalah amat penting. Populasi pemetaan F3 memerlukan banyak titisan sekurang-kurangnya bilangan sampel yang minimum adalah sebanayk 300 titisan bagi menjalankan kajian pemetaan genetik. Penyaringan yang tepat untuk pemilihan titisan padi dalan keadaan kemarau dan bajir adalah amat diperlukan untuk membantu pembiak baka mengenalpasti titisan yang toleran yang akan boleh digunakan pada pemilihan seterusnya. Untuk membangunkan populasi pemetaan, populasi (F2:3) adalah populasi pemetaan yang terbaik kerana DNA dan data kualitatif boleh dipukal daripada beberapa pokok dalam setiap titisan F3. Penyaringan kemarau telah dilakukan di sawah padi kerana memerlukan ruang yang banyak untuk menanam semua tiitsan. Kawalan positif (NMR152) dan kawalan negatif (MR219) telah ditanam di antara 20 titisan mutan. Watermark diletakkan secara rawak di beberapa tempat untuk mewakili kelembapan tanah ketika tekanan kemarau. Air akan dikeluarkan 35 hari selepas tanam dan kelembapan tanah dikekalkan bawah (-30kPa) sehingga tekanan
77 kemarau dikenakan ketika keadaan reproduktif. Ciri-ciri fisiologi seperti kandungan klorofil dan daun bergulung dicatatkan ketika tekanan kemarau. Seterusnya, data agro-morfologi direkodkan bersama-sama dengan kawalan positif dan negatif ketika penuaian. Kemudian, penyaringan banjir terhadap populasi pemetaan boleh dilakaukan di rumah kaca kerana proses penyaringan adalah ketika peringkat vegetatif. Benih titisan padi disemai bersama-sama dengan kawalan positif (NMR152 and IR64sub-1) dan kawalan negative (MR220CL2) di dalam bekas (40 x 30) cm. Selepas 18 hari, anak benih dan bekas direndamkan di dalam 80 cm tangki berisidengan air selama 14 hari. Jumlah oksigen terrlarut air di dalam tangki direkodkan pada hari 0, 4, 8,dan 12 selepas rendam. Kadar kemandirian direkodkan pada 10 hari selepas dikeluarkan dari tenggelam, dan titisan yang hidup telah dipindahkan ke sawah padi untuk menilai ciri-ciri agro- morfologi. Oleh itu, kertas kerja ini akan membincangkan teknik penyaringan kemarau dan banjir dalam populasi pemetaan F3 padi mutan.
78 DIRECT SAMPLING AND MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE OF METHANE EMISSION USING LASER SPECTROMETER Ahmad Nazrul Abd Wahid, Maizatul Akmam binti Mhd. Nasir, Abd. Razak bin Ruslan, Hazlina binti Abdullah, Azania Shazlin binti Mohamad Razali and Mohamad Taufik bin Abdullah ABSTRACT Greenhouse gases (GHGs) derived from agriculture and land use changes such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), play a major role in regulating earth’s temperature. CH4 is produced by anaerobic mineralization by methanogenic archaea, mainly come from paddy fields used for rice production. In the previous study, CH4 was sampled using a conventional method where, CH4 in the static chamber were pulled out using a syringe and stored in a vial before the analysis was carried out using the analyzer. Recently, with the presence of Laser Spectrometer, the method of sampling and analysis of CH4 has been upgraded. This paper will discuss more about the direct sampling and measurement technique of CH4 emission using Laser Spectrometer. Keywords: Greenhouse Gases, Methane, Laser Spectrometer ABSTRAK Gas rumah hijau (GHGS) yang berasal daripada pertanian dan perubahan guna tanah seperti karbon dioksida (CO2), metana (CH4), dan nitrous oksida (N2O), memainkan peranan utama dalam mengawal suhu bumi. CH4 dihasilkan melalui mineralisasi anaerobik oleh archaea metanogenik, terutamanya berasal dari sawah padi yang digunakan untuk pengeluaran padi. Dalam kajian lepas, CH4 telah diambil sampel menggunakan kaedah konvensional di mana, CH4 dalam ruang statik ditarik keluar menggunakan picagari dan disimpan di dalam vial sebelum analisis dijalankan menggunakan penganalisis. Baru-baru ini, dengan kehadiran Spektrometer Laser, kaedah pensampelan dan analisis CH4 telah dinaik taraf. Kertas kerja ini akan membincangkan lebih lanjut mengenai teknik pensampelan dan pengkuran secara langsung pelepasan CH4 menggunakan Spektrometer Laser. Kata kunci: Gas rumah hijau, metana, Spektrometer Laser
79 BUSINESS MODEL FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON THE BIOFERTILISER PRODUCT Phua Choo Kwai Hoe, Nur Humaira’ Lau Abdullah, Ahmad Nazrul Abd Wahid, Mohd Noor Hidayat Adenan, Chong Saw Peng, Mariani Deraman, Azania Shazlin Mohamad Razali and Norellia binti Bahari ABSTRACT Research and development (R&D) is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments to develop new services or products and improving existing ones. Traditional R&D is limited in its ability to understand if new business ideas would result in value to the customer and to the company. Accordingly, new R&D activitiesinclude C (commercialisation). In the R&D of biofertiliser products, two business models (SWOT analysis and Business canvas) were used. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The Business Model Canvas comprises nine essential parts: Customer Segments, Value Proposition, Revenue Streams, Channels, Customer Relationships, Key Activities, Key Resources, Key Partners, and Cost Structure. SWOT and Business canvas should come before R&D plan, which can save budget and time. More importantly, the product can meet consumer and market needs. Thus, this study aims to use SWOT analysis and business canvas to prepare an R&D plan for biofertiliser products. With these two models, the biofertliser project can commercialise four biofertiliser products (Bioliquifert, GoGrow BioNPK, Migrofas M99 and Bioliquifert M100) from 2017 to 2023. Keywords: Biofertiliser, SWOT analysis, and Business canvas
80 SCREENING TECHNIQUE OF RICE MUTANT LINES AGAINST LEAF BLAST DISEASE Mohammad Malek Faizal Azizi, Faiz Ahmad, Wan Dalila Wan Chik, Muniroh Md Saad, Asma Ari, Sobri Hussein, Abdul Rahim Harun, Wan Norhanis Ahmad Yarani, James Mackester anak Simoli, Muhammad Ruzaini bin Abdul Wahab, Muhammad Amirul Aiman Khairul Azhar and Nur Atiqah Zulkifli ABSTRACT Rice is a pivotal crop that serves as a foremost staple food for about half of the globalpopulation, especially in developing countries. In 2020, the rice industry contributed 2.5% to the agriculture sector in Malaysia, indicating a slight increase compared to the previous year (Statista Research Department, 2023). This was possible owing to improved agronomic practices and improved rice varieties. However, one of the crucial challenges in rice production is diseases which can potentially reduce rice production and quality,thusleading to huge economic losses at the national self-sufficient level (SSL). Rice blast, which is caused by the haploid, ascomyceteous fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae (also known as Pyricularia oryzae) (Molinari & Talbot, 2022). The disease remains to be the most devastating and potentially harmful disease affecting the global rice crop. However, due to the breakdown of resistance in numerous resistant cultivars, their usefullifespan is limited to just a few years. Hence, it is crucial to perform screenings for leaf blast resistance in rice. This helps evaluate the diversity within the germplasm and provides valuable information about resistance and susceptibility. Such information is essential for future use in breeding practices. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate and screen rice mutant lines for resistance to blast disease in an infection house.
81 TRANSCRIPTOME SEQUENCING METHOD FOR THE DISCOVERY OF SUBMERGENCE TOLERANCE GENES IN MUTANT RICE CULTIVAR NMR152 Wan Dalila Wan Chik, Mohammad Malek Faizal Azizi, Asma Aris, Faiz Ahmad, Affrida Abu Hassan, Sobri Hussein, Abdul Rahim Harun, Muniroh Md. Saad, James Mackester Simoli, Muhammad Ruzaini Abdul Wahab, Siti Norvahida Hisham, Mohd Sharkawi Ahmad, Siti Nurdiyana Yusof, Muhammad Adib Najmi Ja’afar, Izzatul Darmina Ihwan, Muhammad Azmeer Anuar Rasid, Muhammad Amirul Aiman Khairul Izhar and Nur Atiqah Zulkifli ABSTRACT In 2023, it was estimated that Malaysia would consume approximately 2.91 million metric tons of rice in total, a slight increase in the annual consumption from the previous year (Saali, 2023). However, Malaysia is currently facing challenges in achieving adequate rice production. Several factors contribute to this circumstance, including the delayed production of new paddy varieties and the exacerbation of climate change that lead to occurrences of drought and flooding. Farmers in Malaysia currently cultivate high-yielding rice cultivars that exhibit the susceptibility to both drought and submergence. Submergence tolerance was defined as the capability of a plant to survive a period of complete submergence lasting between 10 and 14 days. The growth process continues even after the flood recedes in minimal damage to plant morphology (Singh et al., 2017). Malaysian Nuclear Agency had successfully developed one drought and submergence tolerant mutant cultivar, NMR152 through a series of stringent phenotypic and genotypic selections based on its parental line MR219 using gamma irradiation at 300 Gy. To date, no information of NMR152 transcriptomic sequences has presented a significant challenge to the advancement of research on mutant rice varieties. To address these issues, we have assembled a high-quality transcriptomic sequence of NMR152 using RNASeq method. The resulted sequences were compared to local variety, MR219. The identified genes and their sequence information will also assist in the development of suitable markers to be used in marker assisted breeding (MAB) and genetic engineering program towards generating new rice varieties.
82 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE OF PADDY NMR 152 TRANSPLANT AND DIRECT SEEDING CULTIVATIONS Asma Aris, Wan Dalila Wan Chik, Mohammad Malek Faizal Azizi, Faiz Ahmad, Sobri Hussein, Abdul Rahim Harun, Wan Norhanis Ahmad Yarani, James Mackester Simoli, Muhammad Ruzaini Abdul Wahab, Siti Norvahida Hisham, Mohd Sharkawi Ahmad, Siti Nurdiyana Yusof and Muhammad Adib Najmi Ja’afar ABSTRACT In tandem with global food security, it is crucial to prioritise endeavours aimed at addressing the requirements of rice supply, with a particular emphasis on identifying an optimised rice production system. The rice production system in Malaysia faces numerous challenges, encompassing climate change, soil infertility, and inadequate nutrient management. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 2020, it is projected that global rice production will reach approximately 114 million tonnes by the year 2035, in line with the anticipated growth of the global population. In response to the observed phenomenon, the Malaysian Nuclear Agency has undertaken an initiative to develop a new breed of mutated rice referred to as NMR152, more often acknowledged as IS21. There are multiple factors that impact the optimisation of variety IS21 cultivation. This study focuses on improving the rice production system with the objective of reducing production costs, enhancing efficiency in the use of water, labour, and energy, increasing income, and minimising the environmental impact (Rao et al., 2017).
83 PENAMBAHBAIKAN TATACARA PENYEDIAAN SAMPEL BATUAN UNTUK ANALISIS ELEMEN URANIUM DAN THORIUM Nur Ruzanna binti Norzahan, Mohd Faizun bin Khalid, Dr. Rahman bin Yaccup, Dr. Lakam anak Mejus, Kamaruzaman bin Mohamad @ Mamat, Mohd Hafiz bin Zulkurnain, Shaharudin bin Sayuti, Abdul Bakhri bin Muhamad, Yii Mei Wo dan Mohamad Asri bin Ramli ABSTRAK Kertas kerja ini menerangkan tatacara penyediaan sampel batuan untuk tujuan analisa elemen uranium thorium berasaskan cadangan IAEA. Tatacara penyediaan sampel batuan ini terdiri dari beberapa peringkat seperti pembahagian sampel mengikut kedalaman, pemotongan sampel danjugamengisarsampel.Tugasanmemotong sampelbatuandijalankan dengan menggunakan fasiliti kumpulan pengukuran kejituan kekuatan bahan (MSI) di blok 60. Seterusnya, tugasan menghancurkan dan mengisar (crush & grind) batuan dijalankan dengan menggunakan fasiliti kumpulan radiokimia alam sekitar (RAS) di blok 23. Analisis sampel batuan dijalankan di makmal WDXRF di blok 32. Sebanyak 30-40 sampel batuan telah dianalisis dan menunjukkan perbezaan (atau sama) yang ketara daripada analisis. Ini adalah kerana analisis sebelumnya hanya fokus kepada sampel pada kedalaman tertentu (preferential depth) yang menunjukkan bacaan insitu kelimpahan (count per second) yang tinggi. Manakala penambahbaikan analisis terkini adalah berdasarkan pembahagian kedalaman yang setara. Kata kunci: penyediaan sampel batuan dan analisis.
84 KRAGTEN’S METHOD APPROACH TO ASSESS THE UNCERTAINTY OF URANIUM ISOTOPES RADIOACTIVITY MEASURED USING ALPHA SPECTROMETRY Nurrul Assyikeen Md. Jaffary, Chriscius Anthonius, Jalal Sharib@Sarip, Mohd Tarmizi Ishak and Nazirah Mohd Nazry Rethinasamy ABSTRACT The Radiochemistry and Environment Laboratory (RAS) in Nuklear Malaysia is a radioactivity testing laboratory responsible for evaluating radionuclides in food and environmental samples, including the uranium isotopes 238U, 234U, and 235U. The laboratory has developed a method for calculating the corresponding uncertainty level for the samples' radionuclide activity. The uncertainty is influenced by the measurement parameter, measurement process (which impacts precision), and the available standards with corresponding uncertainties. When the relevant data in a mathematical formulation is driven by numerous measured parameters, uncertainties might grow complicated. This study aims to suggest uncertainty calculation using Kragten’s method. In this work, a certified reference sample, IAEA-385 was used in three replicates to quantify the uranium's radioactivity measurement uncertainty. The results demonstrate that the Kragten approach enables us to quickly and simply analyze the measured uncertainties in uranium radioactivity. The investigation has shown that the Kragten approach is accurate and lowers the possibility of calculation errors. Keywords: Uranium, alpha spectrometry, uncertainty, Kragten’s method, spreadsheet
85 THE FEATURES OF ELECTROPHORETIC DEPOSITION (EPD) AS COATING TECHNIQUE WITH RADIATION-ASSISTED IN APPLICATION OF WATER FILTRATION MEMBRANE Mohd Roslie bin Ali, Naurah binti Mat Isa, Mohd Yusof bin Hamzah, Rosley bin Che Ismail, Sharilla Muhammad Faizal and Abdul Muizz bin Mohd Sani ABSTRACT The paper is discussing on the features of Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD) as coating technique inapplication of water filtration membrane. Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a two-step process fordepositing coatings from suspended particles and polymer molecules. The advantages of EPD are rather simple equipment, the flexibility in substrate shape or dimension and the choice of coating materials, as well as the ability to easily control the homogeneity and thickness of the coatings. The assistance of radiation in this technique provide good impact in producing quality coatings, from thepreparation of stable suspension till the uniformity of the coatings or deposition for the formation ofmembrane layers. This will highlight the significant and the potential of this coating technique in application of filtration membrane for improvement in water purification and desalination. Keywords: Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD); Radiation-Assisted; Membrane; Nanocomposite;Water Filtration
86 PENYEDIAAN SAMPEL AIR DALAM ALAM SEKITAR BAGI PENGUKURAN RADIONUKLID PEMANCAR GAMA Noor Fadzilah Yusof, Dainee Nor Fardzila Ahmad Tugi, Intan Nur Munirah Mohd Rafee, Nor Aza Hassan dan Mohd Izwan Abdul Adziz ABSTRAK Makmal Radiokimia dan Alam Sekitar (RAS) adalah makmal yang bertanggungjawab menyediakan khidmat analisis keradioaktifan dalam pelbagai produk makanan, minuman dan alam sekitar. Makmal RAS menyediakan khidmat analisis kepada pelbagai agensi kerajaan, swasta dan pihak berkuasa tempatan. Selain itu, RAS juga terlibat dalam kerja penyelidikan dan pembangunan berkaitan denganisu permasalahan alam sekitar. Salahsatu khidmatanalisis yangditawarkan olehMakmalRAS adalah mengukur kepekatan keradioaktifan dalamsampel airmenggunakan kaedah pengukuran spektrometrigama spesifik bagi pemancar gama. Kertas kerja ini bertujuan untuk membincangkan mengenai penyediaan sampel air dalam alam sekitar bagi pengukuran radionuklid pemancar gama. Kata Kunci: air, alam sekitar, pemancar gama, pengukuran keradioaktifan, spektrometri gama ABSTRACT Radiochemistry and Environmental Laboratory (RAS) is a laboratory responsible for providing radioactivity analysis services in various food products, beverages and environment. RAS laboratory provides analysis services to various government, private, and local authority agencies. In addition,RAS is also involved in research and development activities related to environmental issues. One of the analysis services offered by RAS laboratory is to measure the radioactivity concentration in watersamples using gamma spectrometry measurement specifically for gamma emitters. This paper aims to discuss the preparation of water samples in the environment for the measurement of gamma- emitting radionuclides.
87 HANDLING IMBALANCE DATA IN NORTHEAST MONSOON HEAVY RAINFALL PREDICTION ON THE EAST COAST OF PENINSULA MALAYSIA Mohd Fauzi Haris, Norita Md. Norwawi, Muhammad Rawi Mohamed Zin, Saaidi Ismail and Mohd Hafez Mohd Isa ABSTRACT The training data's quality and balance are critical in machine learning and data-driven decision-making. However, real-world datasets often present a significant challenge: class imbalance (Werner de Vargas et al., 2023). Class imbalance occurs when one category or class of data vastly outnumbers the others, skewing the learning process and potentially leading to biased and inaccurate models (Akın, 2023). The implications of imbalanced data are far- reaching, extending to misinformed decisions, decreased model performance, and significant societal and economic consequences. This study delves into the critical issue of handling imbalanced data of extreme or heavy rainfall during NEM on the east coast of peninsula Malaysia, which involves Kelantan, Pahang, and Terengganu. According to the imbalance ratio (IR) used in the study by (Shamsudin et al., 2023), the data under examination exhibits an IR of 33.9. IR, serving as a metric to gauge the extent of class imbalance, offers insight into whether the imbalance is substantial or minimal. Specifically, when IR surpasses the threshold of 1.5, the dataset is categorized as imbalanced, and if it exceeds 9, it is deemed highly imbalanced.
88 BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH ON HYDROMETALLURGY PROCESS ON RARE EARTH EXTRACTION BASED ON SCOPUS DATABASE Fazila binti Said and Meor Muhammad Ikmal ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to reveal the status of scientific publications on simulation of hydrometallurgy process on rare earth elements from the past to the present in terms of bibliometric indicators. A total of 442 publications on the subject between the years 2000–2023 were found in the search using keywords after various screening processes. Publications were revealed through descriptive and research field mapping based on network analyses (bibliometric analysis). In the study, the distribution of publications by years and citation numbers, the most published journals on the subject, the most local cited publications, the most prolific authors, affiliations, and countries were examined. In addition, the cooperation between the authors and countries that publish on the subject was mentioned and a network structure was created for the relations between the keywords. It has been determined that research in this field has progressed and the number of publications and citations has increased over the years. As a result of the bibliometric analysis, it was concluded that the most influential countries in the field for both samples are China, USA, and Australia. The Chulalongkorn University and Central South University as the most prolific institutions in terms of the number of publications. According to the keyword co-occurrence analysis, rare earths, rare earth elements, leaching, extraction and recycling keywordsstand out in the field of hydrometallurgy process on rare earth elements. This paper helps in objectively understanding the efficient separation techniques of rare earth elements, various types of acid leaching and provides a valuable reference for the simulation software use in metallurgyprocess.
89 DETERMINATION OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS IN THE EFFLUENT SAMPLES IN ACCORDANCE WITH AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION (APHA) 3125 METHOD Munirah Abdul Zali, Faqihah Afrina Zainudin, Azian Hashim, Shakirah Abd Shukor, Siti Aminah Omar, Zalina Laili, Azmi Ibrahim and Rozilawati Mohd Jaapar ABSTRACT Rare earth elements (REE) represent a specific group of metals ranging from lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thullium (Tm), ytterbium (Yt), to lutetium (Lu). REE are increasingly used in advanced technology devices (e.g., computers, communication devices, and solar panels) and to manufacture contrast agents for medical use, electric motors, batteries, catalysts, magnets, lamp triphosphors, phosphorescent paints, and other items (Itoh et al. 2020; Jenkins et al. 2023). Recently, the level of REE has increased in the hydrosphere and tap water (I. A. Wysocka et al. 2023) and they have been recognized as potential micropollutants (Pagano et al. 2015). Determination of REE in water samples such as effluent, river water, groundwater and tap water can be challenging due to their low level and potential chemical and physical interferences in the samples. In recent years, due to advanced technology of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), the REE quantification was able to be done in low-level samples with fast, reliable and good precision analysis (Verplanck et al. 2001; I. Wysocka 2021). Furthermore, in conjunction with the established standard method such as the American Public Health Association (APHA) method, the REE quantification can be performed and produce reliable results by following strict method performance criteria and quality control procedures. For REE quantification, the APHA 3125 method was the most suitable method for the simultaneous measurement of REE in water samples. This study aims to determine and compare the method performance and MDL for REE in water samples using APHA 3030E and APHA 3030K techniques and quantification by using APHA 3125 method.
90 HARI PERTAMA KATEGORI PEMBENTANGAN POSTER
91 EXPERIENCE RECEIVING ITEMS FROM IAEA THROUGH TC COOPERATION PROJECT Yii Mei-Wo, Hazmimi Kasim, Mohamad Syahiran Mustaffa, Mohd Noor Hidayat Adenan and Nooradilah Abdullah ABSTRACT The IAEA TC project is the IAEA’s key mechanism for transferring nuclear technology to the member countries. Under this program, member countries will be assisted in various necessary fields such as human capital development and supply of research needs items. This article describes the authors’ experience in managing the gift items from the IAEA and hopefully it can be used as a guide for Nuclear Malaysia’s staff in the future if encountering similar situation. Keywords: TC IAEA, gift items ABSTRAK Projek TC IAEAmerupakan antaramekanisma utama IAEAmemindahkan teknologi nuklear kepada negara-negara anggota. Di bawah program tersebut, negara anggota akan dibantu dalam pelbagai aspek seperti pembangunan sumber manusia dan pembekalan barang keperluan penyelidikan.Artikel inimenerangkan pengalamanpenulismenguruskan penerimaan barangan sumbangan daripada IAEA dan diharap ianya boleh dijadikan panduan kepada kakitangan Nuklear Malaysia pada masa hadapan sekiranya berdepan situasi yang sama. Kata kunci: TC IAEA, barangan sumbangan
92 THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN MALAYSIAN NUCLEAR AGENCY AND JAPANATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY FOR FOLLOW UP TRAINING COURSE ON NUCLEARAND RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS Abdullah Noor Fadilla binti Ismail, Azimawati binti Ahmad, Muhamad Zahidee bin Taat, Mohd Fazlie bin Abdul Rashid, Syed Asraf Fahlawi Wafa bin S M Ghazi, Asmaliza binti Hashim, Raymond Yapp Tze Loong, Shahrul Azlan bin Azizan, Norhayati binti Abdullah, Hairul Nizam bin Idris, Mohamed Zaffar Ali bin Mohamed Amiro and Manisah Saedon ABSTRACT The collaboration between Malaysian Nuclear Agency and Japan Atomic Energy Agency for Followup Training Course on Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Preparedness. Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia) has collaborated with Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to enhance human resource skills, especially in Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Preparedness since years2012. The Follow-up Training Course on Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Preparedness (FTCNREP) was created as a highly beneficial platform for the purpose of sharing knowledge, expertise and experience provided by the lecturers trained by the JAEA. Furthermore, the experience of the nuclear accident at Fukushima NPP in March 2011 unveiled the need of strengthening the radiological emergency management and coordination in providing clear communication to the responder teams. To increase the need for developing preparedness strategies for radiological emergency response, the FTC NREP course was held every year and most of the participants were selected from different agencies such as the army, police, firefighter, medical, regulatory body, customs, and nuclear Malaysia. In this course, the participants will be exposed to comprehensive subjects and hand-held modules in handling radiological monitoring equipment. Therefore, a well- coordinated approach in FTC NREP course is essential for a response to any potential radiologicalemergency, especially in Malaysia. Keywords: Nuclear, Radiological, Emergency Preparedness and response
93 PEMANTAUAN PROGRAM KUALITI DI AGENSI NUKLEAR MALAYSIA (NUKLEAR MALAYSIA) Aisya Raihan Abdul Kadir, Muhammed Zulfakar Zolkaffly dan Azlinda Aziz ABSTRACT Currently, the Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuklear Malaysia) has successfully to maintain 11 Quality certifications and accreditation of facilities in Nuklear Malaysia namely SINAGAMA,RAYMINTEX, Alurtron, Center of Nuklear Excellence (CoNE), Waste Technology Development Center (WasTeC), Radiochemical and Environmental Laboratory (RAS), Radiation Metrology group (KMS), Non- ionizing radiation group (NIR) and Information Technology & Application (IT) Center. Each facility is required to conduct a series of audits to maintain their ISO Standard certification and accreditation. The purpose of the audit is to ensure that the implementation of quality management complies with standards and achieves the facility’s objectives as well as an input to management in improving the efficiency of facility quality management. In order to support and assist the activities of maintaining the quality certification and accreditation of the facilities involved in Nuklear Malaysia, the Planning & International Relations Division (BPA) have acted as a coordinator in carrying out internal audits at each facility involved. This paper will present the monitoring of the quality program through the monitoring of audit activities and audit non-compliance (NC) within a period of five years. In addition to that, this paper also shows the role of internal audit in assisting facilities in maintaining quality certification and accreditation in Nuklear Malaysia. Through these audit activities, improvements are made to the processes carried out and at the same time can maintain quality certification and accreditation in all facilities involved.
94 ABSTRAK Agensi Nuklear Malaysia (Nuklear Malaysia) sehingga kini telah berjaya mengekalkan 11 pensijilan dan akreditasi kualiti di fasiliti-fasiliti yang terdapat di Nuklear Malaysia iaitu SINAGAMA, RAYMINTEX, Alurtron, Pusat Kecemerlangan Nuklear (CoNE), Pusat Pembangunan Teknologi Sisa (WasTeC), Makmal Radiokimia dan Alam Sekitar (RAS), Kumpulan Metrologi Sinaran (KMS), Kumpulan Sinaran Tidak Mengion (NIR) dan Pusat Teknologi Maklumat & Aplikasi (IT). Setiap fasiliti wajib untuk menjalankan beberapa siri audit bagi mengekalkan pensijilan dan akreditasi kualiti masing-masing. Tujuan audit dilaksanakan adalah untuk memastikan pelaksanaan pengurusan kualiti mematuhi standard dan mencapai objektif fasiliti serta sebagai input penambahbaikan kepada pihak pengurusan dalam meningkatkan kecekapan pengurusan kualiti fasiliti. Bagi menyokong dan membantu aktiviti pengekalan pensijilan dan akreditasi kualiti fasiliti-fasiliti yang terlibat di Nuklear Malaysia, Bahagian Perancangan & Hubungan Antarabangsa (BPA) telah bertindak sebagai penyelaras dalam melaksanakan audit dalaman di setiap fasiliti yang terlibat. Kertas kerja ini akan memaparkan pemantauan program kualiti melalui pemantauan aktiviti-aktiviti kualiti termasukaudit dalam tempoh lima tahun. Disamping itu juga, kertas kerja ini turut memaparkan peranan audit dalaman dalam membantu fasilitifasiliti dalam mengekalkan pensijilan dan akreditasi kualiti di Nuklear Malaysia. Melalui aktiviti audit ini memberi penambaikan terhadap proses yang dijalankan dan pada masa yang sama dapat mengekalkan pensijilan dan akreditasi kualiti di semua fasiliti yang terlibat. Kata kunci: Pemantauan program kualiti, audit dan ketidakuran audit (NC)
95 PENYEDIAAN SOP BAGI MEMPERBAIKI MUTU PERBINCANGAN TEKNIKAL DI DALAM MESYUARAT JPICT AGENSI NUKLEAR MALAYSIA Mohamad Safuan bin Sulaiman, Shukri bin Mohd, Siti Nurbahyah binti Hamdan, Maizura binti Ibrahim, Saa' Idi bin Ismail, Mohd Fauzi bin Haris, Amy Hamijah binti Ab Hamid, Sufian Norazam bin Mohamed Aris, Mohd Hasnor bin Hasan, Mohd Dzul Aiman bin Aslan, Norzalina binti Nasirudin, Raja Murzaferi bin Raja Moktar, Nur Fatini binti Abdul Ghani, Muhammad Rawi bin Mohamed Zin dan Rosli Bin Darmawan PENGENALAN Perancangan dan perlaksanaan sesuatu mesyuarat besar seperti Jawatankuasa Pemandu ICT Nuklear Malaysia (JPICT NM) bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah. Segala perkara perlu disusun dan dirancang sebaik mungkin agar tatakelola mesyuarat dapat dilaksanakan dengan baik dan sempurna. Penubuhan JPICT NM ini adalah berdasarkan kepada pekeliling kerajaan Malaysia [1][2][3][4] yang bertujuan, khusus untuk merancang dan menguruskan projek ICT di setiap agensi dengan baik dan terkawal. JPICT NM ini mempunyi fungsi dan tanggungjawab yang tertentu seperti yang digariskan dalam pekeliling-pekeliling tersebut [1][2][3][10]. Antara lainnya adalah seperti berikut: • Menetapkan arah tuju dan strategi untuk pembangunan dan pelaksanaan ICT agensi; • Merancang, mengenal pasti dan mencadangkan sumber seperti kepakaran, tenaga kerja dan kewangan yang diperlukan bagi melaksanakan arah tuju/strategi ICT agensi; • Merancang dan menyelaras pembangunan dan pelaksanaan program/projek ICT agensi; • Menyelaras dan menyeragamkan pembangunan ICT agensi agar selari dengan pelan strategik organisasi dan pelan strategik ICT agensi;
96 • Meluluskan projek ICT agensi berdasarkan kepada keperluan sebenar dan dengan perbelanjaan yang berhemah serta mematuhi peraturan-peraturan semasa yang berkaitan; • Mengikuti dan memantau perkembangan program ICT agensi serta memahami keperluan, masalah dan isu yang dihadapi dalam pembangunan dan pelaksanaan ICT; • Merancang dan menentukan langkah-langkah keselamatan ICT; • Mengemukakan perolehan ICT yang telah diluluskan di peringkat JPICT Agensi kepada JPICT Kementerian untuk kelulusan; dan • Mengemukakan laporan kemajuan projek ICT yang telah diluluskan oleh JTISA kepada JPICT Kementerian mengikut tempoh yang telah ditetapkan Dalam melaksanakan fungsi JPICT NM tersebut, perbincangan teknikal secara mendalam tidak dapat dielakkan. Justeru masa yang panjang perlu diperuntukkan dalam membincangkan sesuatu isu penting samada yang melibatkan polisi mahupun teknikal. Seringkali kedua-dua isu tersebut saling bartaut silang sehingga masa perbincangan berlanjutan dan menyebabkan mesyuarat lewat ditangguhkan serta pernah dilaksanakan pada siri kedua dalam bilangan yang sama. Bagi mengatasi masalah ini, pada mesyuarat JPICT Bil 2/2023 [5], ahli mesyuarat sebulat suara bersetuju agar satu SOP diwujudkan untuk mengasingkan perbincangan teknikal secara mendalam berkaitan projek dan usul dari setiap bahagian dalam Nuklear Malaysia. Hanya hasilan perbincangan teknikal tersebut sahaja yang akan diangkat ke mesyuarat JPICT NM.
97 SEDEKAD PELAKSANAAN KAJIAN KEPUASAN PELANGGAN MAKMAL RADIOKIMIA DAN ALAM SEKITAR (RAS) Norfaizal bin Mohamed @ Muhammad, Nooradilah binti Abdullah, Siti Noor Hayani binti Mohd Noor, Narizan Sanusi dan Maziah binti Mahmud ABSTRACT The Radiochemistry and Environment (RAS) Laboratory is a laboratory that performs radioactivity measurement analysis services in food, environmental and industrial samples. Customersatisfaction is used to measure the quality ofthe service offered. In an effortto adhere to clause 8.6.2 of standard MS ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and in addition to assessing the performance level of service quality, RAS Laboratory has adopted the strategy of using a questionnaire form as one ofthe waysto getfeedback from customers who had received the services. The questionnaire survey conducted are aimed at general and technical information such as aspects of counter service, service quality, price, delivery time, accuracy of certificates or analysis reports issued, customer complaints and others. RAS Laboratory has set a target of at least 75% customer satisfaction index in each year of implementation. This paper will discuss a decade of RAS Laboratory customer satisfaction analysis results conducted from 2012 to 2021. ABSTRAK Makmal Radiokimia dan Alam Sekitar (RAS) merupakan makmal yang menjalankan khidmat analisis pengukuran keradioaktifan di dalam sampel makanan, alam sekitar dan industri. Kepuasan pelanggan merupakan pengukuran jaminan sesuatu kualiti perkhidmatan yang ditawarkan. Dalam usaha untuk mematuhi klausa 8.6.2, standard MS ISO/IEC 17025:2017 dan di samping mengukur tahap prestasi kualiti perkhidmatan, Makmal RAS telah mengambil pendekatan menggunakan borang soal-selidik sebagai salah satu kaedah bagi
98 mendapatkan maklumbalas daripada pelanggan yang menerima perkhidmatan. Soal-selidik yang dijalankan menjurus kepada maklumat am dan teknikal seperti aspek perkhidmatan kaunter, kualiti perkhidmatan, harga, masa penghantaran, ketepatan sijil atau laporan analisis yang dikeluarkan, aduan pelanggan dan sebagainya. Makmal RAS telah menetapkan sasaran sekurang-kurangnya 75% indeks kepuasan pelanggan pada setiap tahun pelaksanaan. Kertas kerja ini akan membincangkan sedekad hasil analisis kepuasan pelanggan Makmal RAS yang dijalankan dari tahun 2012 sehingga 2021. Kata kunci: Makmal Radiokimia dan Alam Sekitar, MS ISO/IEC 17025:2017, Soal-selidik, Indeks Kepuasan Pelanggan
99 KAJIAN KEPUASAN STAF MAKMAL RADIOKIMIA DAN ALAM SEKITAR (RAS) Norfaizal bin Mohamed @ Muhammad, Nooradilah binti Abdullah, Mohd Zuhair bin Mohd Sanusi, Muhammad Izzat Muammar bin Ramli, Mohamad Noh bin Sawon dan Mohd Tarmizi Bin Ishak ABSTRACT The Radiochemistry and Environment (RAS) Laboratory is a laboratory that carries out radioactivity measurement analysis services in food, environmental and industrial samples. In addition to measuring customer satisfaction with the quality of services offered, RAS Laboratory also conducts a staff satisfaction survey to comply with clause 8.9.2 (i), MS ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard and in addition to measuring the level of staff satisfaction at RAS Laboratory. The RAS laboratory has taken the approach of using a questionnaire as one of the methods to get feedback from the staff. The survey conducted is divided into six (6) parts which are basic information; field of duties/responsibilities; supervisor/chief leadership; rewards/recognition and relationships in the workplace; work facilities; and views/suggestions. The results of the study is presented during the Management ReviewMeeting (MRM) of the RAS Laboratory which has to be held every year. This paper will discuss the results of the RAS Laboratory staff satisfaction analysis conducted from 2020 to 2022. ABSTRAK Makmal Radiokimia dan Alam Sekitar (RAS) merupakan makmal yang menjalankan khidmat analisis pengukuran keradioaktifan di dalam sampel makanan, alam sekitar dan industri. Selain dari mengukur kepuasan pelanggan terhadap mutu perkhidmatan yang ditawarkan, Makmal RAS juga ada menjalankan kajian kepuasan staf bagi mematuhi
100 klausa 8.9.2 (i), standard MS ISO/IEC 17025:2017 dan di samping mengukur tahap kepuasan bekerja staf di Makmal RAS. Makmal RAS telah mengambil pendekatan menggunakan borang soal-selidik sebagai salah satu kaedah bagi mendapatkan maklumbalas daripada staf. Soalselidik yang dijalankan terbahagi kepada enam (6) bahagian iaitu maklumat asas; bidang tugas/tanggungjawab; kepimpinan penyelia/ketua; ganjaran/pengiktirafan dan hubungan di tempat kerja; kemudahan di tempat kerja; dan pandangan/cadangan. Hasil kajian akan dibentangkan semasa Mesyuarat Ulasan Pengurusan (MRM) Makmal RAS yang perlu diadakan setiap tahun. Kertas kerja ini akan membincangkan hasil analisis kepuasan staf Makmal RAS yang dijalankan dari tahun 2020 sehingga 2022. Kata kunci: Makmal Radiokimia dan Alam Sekitar, MS ISO/IEC 17025:2017, Soal-selidik, Mesyuarat Ulasan Pengurusan
101 KAJIAN AWAL: PEMBANGUNAN SISTEM PENGURUSAN SIJIL BAGI PROGRAM- PROGRAM LATIHAN ANJURAN PUSAT KECEMERLANGAN NUKLEAR (CoNE) Harni Safina binti Haron, Nor Hadzalina binti Sukarseh dan Siti Nurbahyah binti Hamdan ABSTRAK Pusat Kecemerlangan Nuklear (CoNE)diberi tanggungjawab melaksanakan program-program latihan dalam bidang teknologi nuklear dan teknologi berkaitan dalam usaha meningkatkan kemahiran yang diperlukan, meningkatkan dan mewujudkan kesedaran keselamatan yang lebih tinggi serta mewujudkan tenaga kerja yang kompeten untuk memainkan peranan yang lebih besar dalam agenda pembangunan nasional di Malaysia. Secara puratanya seramai 2,000 orang dilatih setiap tahun dari 7 sektor latihan di Nuklear Malaysia. Setiap pelatih yang telah menamatkan program latihan dengan jayanya akan menerima sijil kehadiran yang bercetak salinan keras dan ditanda tangani oleh Ketua Pengarah. Bermula dari 1996 sehingga tahun 2022 sebanyak 56,197 salinan sijil yang telah dikeluarkan dan disimpan oleh pihak CoNE. Penyediaan dan Penyimpanan sijil yang masih manual telah menimbulkan kekangan dan masalah seperti carian sijil sukar dilakukan, kerosakan dan ralat sijil tinggi, serta kehilangan rekod sijil disebabkan pengurusan terhadap sijil-sijil yang kurang bersistematik. Maka itu, satu usaha penambahbaikan terhadap pengurusan, pengeluaran dan capaian sijil yang bersistematik dan paperless sedang dibuat melalui kajian pembangunan sebuah sistem pengurusan sijil menyeluruh (E-sijil) untuk di gunapakai selaku penyedia/penganjur latihan di Nuklear Malaysia. Melalui pembangunan sistem ini, dijangka akan meningkatkan kecekapan pengurusan sijil, penciptaan sijil dan capaian rekod sijil secara dalam talian terhadap semua program latihan yang telah dihadiri oleh pelatih individu mahu pun agensi/syarikat. Kata kunci: Pengurusan sijil, sektor latihan, Pusat Kecemerlangan Nuklear, CoNE, sistematik, e- sijil, dalam talian, paper less, teknologi nuklear
102 CHARACTERISTICS OF IRRADIATED CHITOSAN USE IN AQUAPONICS Sarada binti Idris, Maznah binti Mahmud, Khomsaton binti Abu Bakar, Norhashidah binti Talip, Nurul Aizam Idayu Mat Sani, Norafifah binti Ahmadfabillah and Mohamad Nalrazmi bin Mohamad Shukri ABSTRACT Oligochitosan added to aquaponics systems serves as food supplement for fishes and promote plant growth. Oligochitosan in the form of liquid solution was obtained from irradiated chitosan. Chitosan was irradiated with gamma irradiation at 25 kGy to produced low molecular weightschitosan (oligochitosan). This study was conducted to examine the characteristics of oligochitosan derived from irradiated chitosan. The parameters of shelf life (viscosity, turbidity and pH), protein digestion, visual inspection, morphology, antimicrobial study and toxicity were evaluated. The low molecular weight chitosan (Mw = 5 kDa), was further used as dietary supplement for tilapia. Nitrogen, one of the most important macro-nutrients for plant growth and crop productivity was supplied by fish feces and food waste containing oligochitosan in fish tank, as well as phosphorus and potassium. Results obtained in this study showed the potential use of oligochitosan as food supplement for tilapia and plant growth promoter in aquaponics system. Keywords: Oligochitosan, gamma irradiation, aquaponics
103 ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF POLYVINYL ALCOHOL/SAGO STARCH- GRAFTED CINNAMALDEHYDE AS ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVE FOOD PACKAGING Farah Fadzehah Hilmi, Muhammad Aidell Amir, Noora'tiqah Mohamad Fauzi, Nor Azwin Shukri and Khairul Azhar Abdul Halim ABSTRACT Cinnamaldehyde (CN) is incorporated into polyvinyl alcohol/sago starch (PVA/SS) film to serve as antimicrobial active packaging. PVA/SS filmwas irradiated with electron beam irradiation at an optimum dose of 110 kGy and graftedwith cinnamaldehyde in vaporphase to produce grafted film. The grafted film (PVA/SS)-g-CN was used to packaged strawberries to evaluate the effectiveness of the grafted film on antimicrobial property. Visual observation shows that strawberries packaged in control film, PVA/SS deteriorate faster than strawberries packaged in grafted film, (PVA/SS)- g-CN. To further quantitatively analyse the antimicrobial property, the strawberries total plate count and yeast mould count were conducted. The result revealed that both total plate count and yeast mould count of strawberries in grafted film is lower as compared to strawberries in packaged in control film. This concludes that the grafted filmhasthe potentialto be used as an antimicrobial active packaging film for food. Keywords: Radiation induced grafting, active packaging, antimicrobial active packaging, essential oil
104 ELEMENTAL ANALYZER FOR ANALYSIS OF CHNS Siti Aminah Omar, Muhammad Farhan Ridzuan, Zalina Laili, Md Suhaimi Elias, Nazaratul Ashifa Abdullah Salim, Azian Hashim, Shakirah Shukor, Muhammad Azfar Azman and Munirah Abdul Zali ABSTRACT Elemental Analyzer is typically used to measure the percentage of Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Nitrogen (N) and Sulphur (S) in a sample. It is a straightforward and a reliable analysis to assess purity and chemical composition of a compound. This allow for the determination of the structure of the compound which is beneficial for research and quality control purposes. CHNS technique is based on “Dumas Method” which involves complete combustion and oxidation of the sample which produces CO2, H2O, NO2 and SO2. These gases get separated using gas chromatography and detected using thermal conductivity detector. CHNS analysis can be used on wide range of samples across many different industries such as environmental, food and animal feed, energy or petrochemical, material characterization, agricultural as well as pharmaceuticals. Keywords: Elemental analyzer, CHNS, quality control
105 LEXSYG SMART- THERMOLUMINESCENCE OPTICALLY STIMULATED LUMINESCENCE (TL OSL) READER AT NUCLEAR DATING LABORATORY, MALAYSIA NUCLEAR AGENCY Mohd Zuhair Mohd Sanusi, Nooradilah Abdullah, Norfaizal Mohamed, Muhammad Izzat Muammar Ramli, Muhammad Noh Sawon and Mohd Tarmizi Ishak ABSTRACT Nuclear Dating Laboratory located at Malaysian Nuclear Agency aim to conduct a study on dating mineral based material. This laboratory is located at Block 19 under the supervision of Radiochemistry Environment Group (RAS), Waste Technology and Environment Division (BAS). This laboratory was established in 1983 via collaboration between Isotope Hydrology Unit with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC) and Pusat Penyelidik Atom Tun Ismail (PUSPATI). In 2003, BAS took over this laboratory after being advised by the management. Due to several critical problems regarding the equipment, the laboratory cannot fully function in order to provide service. Therefore, further initiative was taken to redevelop this laboratory under Rancangan Malaysia 11 (RMK-11) RP4 2020 (Abdullah. N et al., 2020). The budget allocation was used to purchased advance thermoluminescence (TL) Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) reader from Freiburg, Germany and the reader was fully installed in November 2021. All basic training was successfully conducted in December 2021 to meet the scope of human capital development under this budget. This paper aims to discuss the technical aspect related to LEXSYG SMART reader.
106 SEQUENTIAL DETERMINATION OF Pb-210/Po-210 IN SEDIMENT SAMPLE Nooradilah Abdullah, Yii Mei Wo, Norfaizal bin Mohamed @ Muhammad, Mohd Zuhair bin Mohd Sanusi, Nurrul Assyikeen binti Md. Jaffary, Noor Fadzilah binti Yusof, Mohd Tarmizi bin Ishak, Mohamad Noh bin Sawon and Muhammad Izzat Muammar bin Ramli ABSTRACT Radionuclides are very useful tools as tracers to study a large variety of processes in the oceans. Radioactive isotopes present in the environment,such as uranium-236 (U-236), lead-210 (Pb-210), caesium-137 (Cs-137) and carbon14 (C-14), were used to study present-day sedimentation in seas and oceans (Periáñez et.al. 2023, Ferreira et.al, 2020). The study of sediments in coastal areashas great importance to understanding the interaction between human activities and marine system. Apart from that, combining radionuclide dating methods with detailed sedimentological investigations allows sedimentary events to be correlated with well-documented earthquakes or volcanic eruptions (Arnaud et.al., 2006). Pb-210 is well-known as environmental radiotracer in various processes such as sediment resuspension (Baskaran et.al., 2020), carbon and nitrogen cycle quantification (Yang et.al., 2011) and particle cycling (Zhong et.al., 2023). The half-life of Pb-210 is 22.3 years which can be used for dating on material from a year up to 150 years old. The origin of Pb-210 can be divided into two, unsupported Pb-210 which formed in the atmosphere due to the decay of Rn222 and the other is supported Pb-210 which formed from the decay of Rn-222 arising from the natural Ra- 226 contained in the sediments. Another source of Pb-210 could be from anthropogenic sources such as from waste. A number of analytical techniques are available for the measurement of Pb-210 based on different chemical and physical principles, namely gamma spectrometry, alpha spectrometry and beta counter and spectrometry. They differ concerning the reachable detection limit, selectivity, analytical error reproducibility and stability against different chemical composition and levels of others natural radionuclides. In this study, Pb-210 was determined sequentially with Po-210 by chemical separation using Sr-resin.
107 IMPROVING MEASUREMENT OF POLONIUM-210 IN BIOTA SAMPLES AT RADIOCHEMISTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP, MALAYSIAN NUCLEAR AGENCY Nurrul Assyikeen Md. Jaffary, Jenny Ng Gin Li, Jalal Sharib @ Sarip, Chriscius Anthonius, Mohd Tarmizi Ishak, Nurul Zakila Ishak, Nooradilah Abdullah and Noor Fadzilah. Yusof ABSTRACT One of the most radiotoxic radionuclides found in nature is 210Po. It emits alpha particles and has a strong linear energy transfer, contributing to its substantial radiotoxicity (UNSCEAR, 2000). The majority of the absorbed dose that an individual obtains by eating seafood is accounted for by 210Po, which is known to accumulate in high concentrations in various marine species (Alam & Mohamed, 2011; Fisher et al., 2013). Studies show that the 210Po associated with seafood consumption accounts for over 80% of the yearly background dosage (Alonso-Hernandez et al., 2002). Estimating the radiological health risk associated with 210Po from consuming seafood or seafood derivatives is crucial because seafood is one of the main animal protein sources in the human diet. This paper defines the improvement in the RAS procedure for determining 210Po in biota samples. In preparation for counting using alpha spectrometry, samples may be digested in acid and then plated from dilute hydrochloric acid as a thin film on the surface of a silver metal. Polonium is plated on one side ofthe disc, with one face ofthe disc protected by coating with enamel or by retaining the disc in a holderwith a screw-on cap, giving positive protection to the back of the disc. This research focuses on improving the sample counts using alpha spectrometry and the plating efficiency.
108 GLOBAL RADIUM-226 MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE: RETRIEVAL OF CEMENTED RADIUM NEEDLES Rafizi bin Salihuddin, Esther anak Phillip, Rohyiza binti Ba'an, Nurul Wahida binti Ahmad Khairuddin, Azimawati binti Ahmad, Suzilawati binti Muhd Sarowi, Ahmad Hasnulhadi Che Kamaruddin, Nazran bin Harun, Kang Wee Siang, Azmi bin Ibrahim, Mohd Zaidi bin Ibrahim, Dr. Muhammad Fathi bin Sujan, Nariman Bin Md Mashor@Mansor, Mohammad Nizammuddin bin Abd. Aziz, Mohd Zahiruddin bin Jaafar, Mohd Na'imullah bin Ab Razak, Mohd Azam bin Zulkipli, Khairul Annas Mohd Noor and Mohd Faris bin Ismail ABSTRACT The Global Radium-226 Management Initiative coordinated by the IAEA focuses on recycling radium-226 as an effort to wisely manage legacy radium sources such as radium needles used for targeted alpha therapy in nuclear medicine. The accumulation and storage of legacy radium sources without any further purpose may pose long-term management concerns if not managed safely and effectively. With a considerably huge number of legacy radium sources in its possession, Malaysia has decided to participate in this program to support the sustainable management of these radium sources. The Canadian National Laboratory (CNL) is interested in cooperating with Malaysia in recycling of the legacy radium sources. The legacy radium sources were mostly conditioned in stainless steel capsules and stored in the interim storage facility. 100 pieces of radium needles with a total activity of 157 mCi were conditioned in two cemented drums. This paper shares the working procedures for demolishing the cemented drums to retrieve the radium needles for transfer to CNL. Protection against occupational exposure is also described. This mission is a collaboration between Waste Technology Development Centre (WasTeC) and the Health Physics Group (KFK). Keywords: Radium needles, Recycling, Retrieved, Occupational exposure
109 JACKFRUIT PROCESS CONFIGURATION FOR PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENT USING GAMMA IRRADIATION Ahmad Zainuri Mohd Dzomir, Ahsanulkhaliqin Abd Wahab, Syuhada Ramli, Mohd Rizal Md Chulan, Cosmos George, Zarina Mohd Nor, Nor Ishadi Ismail, Shaiful Rizaide Mohd Yakin, Ruzalina Baharin, Hasan Sham, Zulkifli Juhari, Nurul Fatihah Zamri and Mohd Hafiz Nasir INTRODUCTION Process configurations are distinct methods for treating articles with irradiation. Each process configuration is defined by a combination of article type and size, packaging materials, stacking pattern, bulk density, density distribution, and other factors that affect the absorption of radiation and measurement of absorbed dose during treatment. The configuration is set up for the purpose to achieve a particular set of treatment goals. These goals are determined by packinghouses, importers or exporters, regulatory authorities and the facility management. Examples of treatment goals include minimum and maximum dose to be delivered, volume to be treated, and posttreatment article quality. It is critical that process configuration is maintained under the same conditions that will be used during routine treatments. Small changes to packaging, density, density distribution, or other characteristics of the configuration have the potential to create large and unknown changes to the radiation absorption and dose estimated during routine treatments. United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) characterizes many of these important factors by measuring them directly during pre-clearance program and using these measurements as a basis for verifying whether the operating parameters fullfil the intended purpose of treatment. All dosimetry systems used must have applicable dose ranges as specified in ISO/ASTM 51261:2013 Practice for Calibration of Routine Dosimetry Systems for Radiation Processing (ASTM, 2013).
110 To note, rambutan, jackfruit, pineapple, papaya and carambola from Malaysia have been approved by APHIS for the export to US in condition its irradiated at the generic minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy as a quarantine measure (Ahmad Zainuri et al., 2021). Preliminary facility testing on rambutan cv Deli Baling (Sofian et al, 2011) and Anak Sekolah (Sofian et al, 2012; MINTec-Sinagama, 2016) have been carried out with Gammachrome perspex (measurement range 0.1 – 3 kGy) as dose measurement device, in which minimum: maximum dose was 550Gy:690Gy, 530Gy:710Gy and 440Gy:720Gy, respectively. Each process configuration has impacted the outcome of the final result. In addition, other fruit with different dimensions such as jackfruit need a distinct method for treatment with irradiation. Furthermore, since the production of Gammachrome perspex has been discontinued, we have to look into other options such as optichromic dosimeters to be used as measurement device. Thus, the objectives of this study are to 1) calibrate optichromic FWT70-40M, and 2) design the process configurations for jackfruit and validate that the delivery of the minimum dose (Dmin) is ensured. This goal is achieved through a two-step process: i) dose mapping the configuration and ii) developing a simple mathematical model for estimating doses during routine treatments as stated in APHIS’s instructions for new process configuration approval for irradiation treatments and new process configuration worksheet (APHIS, 2010).
111 MOLASSES TO SUPPORT BACTERIAL GROWTH Liew Pauline Woan Ying, Jong Bor Chyan, Elly Ellyna Rashid and Hing Jan Nie ABSTRACT This study was carried out to evaluate the use of molasses to support the growth of bacteria. The molasses (gula merah) used contains at least 76 degrees BRIX total dissolved solid, 45% total sugar, 30-32% sucrose, and pH 5.4-5.7. In order to analyze the survival of locally isolated functional bacteria in molasses, 54 bacterial isolates were tested. Initially, the bacteria were cultured on two types of solid media, namely minimal medium (MM) and commercial nutrient agar (NA), both supplied with 0 to 20% of molasses. Based on the results obtained, all the bacteria grew on MM and NA without molasses(0%), 46 bacteria grew on MM with 5% molasses, and 24 bacteria grew on MM with 10% molasses, 50 bacteria grew on NA with 5% molasses, 31 bacteria grew on NA with 10% molasses. None of the bacteria were able to grow on MM and NA containing higher concentration of molasses. Subsequently, 18 selected bacteria were tested in nutrient broth (NB) supplied with designated concentrations of molasses. From the results, four bacteria showed 109 colony forming unit (CFU) per mL growth, one showed 108 CFU per mL, six showed 107 CFU per mL, five showed 106 CFU per mL, one showed 105 CFU per mL, while growth of one bacterium was undetected. The results are important reference towards utilizing molasses as the carbon and energy source to cultivate these local bacteria and facilitate their bioproductions. Overall, molasses can be used to cultivate some bacteria, but not all. Keywords: Molasses, bacterial growth, minimal medium, nutrient medium
112 ABSTRAK Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menilai penggunaan molases bagi menumbuh bakteria. Molases (gula merah) yang digunakan mengandungi sekurangkurangnya 76 darjah BRIX, 45% gula, 30-32% sukrosa, dan mempunyai pH 5.4-5.7. Untuk mengkaji kemandirian bakteria-bakteria fungsian tempatan dalam molasses, 54 isolat bakteria telah diuji. Terlebih dahulu, bakteria telah dikultur pada dua jenis media pepejal iaitu medium minimal (MM) dan agar nutrien komersial (NA), kedua-duanya dibekalkan dengan 0 sehingga 20% molases. Berdasarkan keputusan kajian, kesemua bakteria tumbuh pada kedua-dua media yang mengandungi 0% molases, 46 bakteria tumbuh pada MM yang mengandungi 5% molases, 24 bakteria tumbuh pada MM yang mengandungi 10% molases, 50 bakteria tumbuh pada NA yang mengandungi 5% molases, 31 bakteria tumbuh pada NA yang mengandungi 10% molases. Tiada bakteria tumbuh pada kedua-dua media yang mengandungi kepekatan molases yang lebih tinggi. Seterusnya, 18 bakteria terpilih telah diuji pada medium nutrien cecair (NB) yang mengandungi molases. Dari keputusan kajian, empat bakteria menunjukkan pertumbuhan 109 CFUmL-1 ,satu bertumbuh pada 108 CFU mL-1 , enam bertumbuh pada 107 CFU mL-1 , lima bertumbuh pada 106 CFU mL-1 , satu bertumbuh pada 105 CFU mL-1 , manakala satu bakteria lagi tidak menunjukkan pertumbuhan pada molases. Keputusan kajian ini penting untuk penggunaan molases sebagai sumber karbon dan tenaga bagi pertumbuhan bakteria tempatan serta penghasilan bioproduk. Secara keseluruhan, molases boleh digunakan untuk mengkultur bakteria-bakteria tertentu, tetapi bukan semua.
113 PROCEDURE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NEW GRAIN CORN VARIETY BY GAMMA RAYS Muniroh Md Saad, Mustapha Akil, Shakinah Salleh and Zaiton Ahmad ABSTRACT Grain corn is typically utilized as a key ingredient in animal feed destined for ruminant poultry, and swine due to its excellent energy source. In Malaysia, however, over the past decades, grain corn supply forthe local animal feed industries has been entirely dependent on importation, mainly from Argentina and Brazil (Yazid et al 2021; Zahari and Wong, 2009). The huge increase in the grain corn import bill (MYR 3.09 billion in 2016; Malaysian Department of Statistics) (Mohd Supaat, 2017) has substantially contributed to the country’s economic burden, and if left unchecked, may eventually jeopardize the local food security. To reduce the country’sdependency on grain corn importation, Malaysia has taken the initiative to locally mass-cultivate grain corn. To further strengthen this effort, grain corn also has been recently gazetted by the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries as one of the five new wealth-generating crop commodities alongside coconut, durian, dairy, and culinary industries, as announced in the Malaysian 2018 budget (BNM, 2018). Grain corn has been cultivated in Malaysia since the 80s, but this crop is not popular among farmers who prefer to grow sweet corn, which fetches a higher price. One study has suggested why grain corn farming has not taken off in Malaysia. One of the reasons is no available variety suitable for Malaysian climates. Currently, only hybrid variety is available, and no pure inbred lines of grain corn in Malaysia. Therefore, it is a suitable time to start thisresearch to develop a new inbred variety of grain corn with high yield, good seed quality, adaptability to climate change, and disease tolerance characteristics. Thus, this paper will discussthe procedure for mutation breeding of grain corn.
114 A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON ENHANCEMENT OF BIOMASS PRODUCTION (AURICULARIA SP.) IN SUBMERGED CULTURE FERMENTATION USING ULTRAVIOLET C IRRADIATION Shaiful Azuar Mohamad, Everina Nuri, Naurah Mat Isa, Mohd Yusof Hamzah, Ahmad Zainuri Mohd Dzomir and Rosnani Abd Rashid ABSTRACT The submerged culture fermentation (SCF) has been proven to be a viable option to produce products to be used in various applications. Various benefits also have been reported regarding the applications of Auricularia sp. fruit bodies, hence its production is being explored using SCF. Auricularia sp. mycelium was cultured in the petri dish from the stock culture. Ultraviolet C (UVC) irradiation was then applied to the petri dish and then the mycelium was transferred to the shake flask. The shake flasks were then harvested for its biomass. The irradiated biomass increased by approximately 26-30% compared to the control. Thus, UVC irradiation was able to increase its biomass, hence polysaccharide. The β-glucan content ofthe Auricularia sp.showed at 8.66 g/100g. Keyword: submerged culture fermentation, ultraviolet C irradiation, Auricularia sp, biomass
115 PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS ON 1H-NMR SPECTRA FOR METABOLITES CHANGE IN HUMAN URINE AFTER CONSUMPTION OF AJWA DATES (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Sabri Nurul Elma, Mohd Sukri Hassan and Shamala Salvamani ABSTRACT Metabolomic analysis is normally performed on biofluids, like blood, serum, urine and feces samples (Zhu et al., 2023). Generally, multivariate data in metabolomics study is a large data that difficult to analyze manually. The combination of 1H-NMR-based metabolomics with multivariate statistical analysis such as Principal Components Analysis (PCA) is a powerful approach for the study of metabolomics (Gu et al., 2007). PCA is a non-supervised multivariate data analysis technique and was used to visualize the multivariate data in grouping trends (Feng et al., 2016) and to reduce the complexity of the data sets (Park et al., 2016). Date fruits are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibers, energy, and easily digestible and absorbable sugars that instantaneously replenish and revitalize the body specially after fasting condition (AlOkbi, 2022). Previous study showed the effect of dates flesh on diseases (Khan et al., 2017), as a potential cardioprotective agent (Alhaider et al., 2017) and in pregnancy (Al-Kuran et al., 2011). However, there are only few established journals reported on the effect of consuming dates fruits on the healthy human metabolic system. The aim of this study is to investigate the combination of 1H-NMR-based metabolomics with PCA in the investigation of the role of Ajwa flesh on volunteers which are considered as healthy human as they have no history of exposure to severe diseases.
116 A STUDY OF THE ABILITY PHOTOSTIMULATED LUMINESCENCE (PSL) TO DETECT SELECTED IRRADIATED DRIED FOOD Ros Anita Ahmad Ramli, Nurul Aisyah Syahira Mohd Azli, Nur Diyana Osman, Sarala A/P Selambakkanu, Salmah Moosa and Mohd Hafiz Abd Nasir ABSTRACT Thisresearch was conducted to find the ability of photostimulated luminescence (PSL) to detect selected irradiated dried food such as dried mushroom, dried shrimp and dried Indian Threadfin. All the samples were irradiated at 0 (control), 1 kGy, 3 kGy and 5 kGy. The PCs of irradiated samples showed a general trend of increase with increasing doses. However, the signal intensity response to irradiation dose varied with samples and this is possibly attributed to the varying quantity and quality of silicate minerals present in each sample. The results of this study provide a useful database on the applicability of PSL technique for the detection of Malaysian irradiated dried food. Keywords: Food irradiation, detection, photostimulated luminescence, dried food ABSTRAK Penyelidikan ini dijalankan untuk mencari kebolehupayaan alat photostimulated luminescence (PSL) untuk mengesan makanan kering yang disinar seperti cendawan kering, udang kering dan ikan kering kurau. Kesemua sampel telah disinar pada 0 (kawalan), 1 kGy, 3 kGy dan 5 kGy. Kiraan foton seminit bagi sampel yang disinari menunjukkan trend umum peningkatan dengan peningkatan dos. Walau bagaimanapun, tindak balas isyarat keamatan terhadap dos penyinaran berbeza dengan sampel dan ini mungkin dikaitkan dengan kuantiti dan kualiti mineral silikat yang berbeza-beza yang terdapat dalam setiap sampel. Hasil kajian ini akan menghasilan pangkalan data yang berguna tentang kebolehgunaan teknik PSL untuk pengesanan makanan kering yang disinar Malaysia.
117 PROCEDURE FOR ISOLATION OF NITRATE-REDUCING BACTERIA FROM PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT Hing Jan Nie, Jong Bor Chyan, Liew Pauline Woan Ying, Noor Haza Fazlin Binti Hashim, Shaiful Azuar Mohamad, Elly Ellyna Rashid and Shuhaimi Shamsudin ABSTRACT Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is rich in organic matter and has been found to have high levels of nitrate. Thus, POME is a potential source of water pollution as nitrate is an excellent nutrientsource for bacterial and algae growth in water. Nitrate-reducing bacteria have the ability to reduce nitrate into nitrite or/and other nitrogenous compounds. The objective of this study was to determine a procedure to isolate bacteria from POME, after which the nitrate reducing ability and the concentration of nitrite were determined. Samples were collected directly from a palm oil mill in Dengkil, Selangor. Bacterial isolates were cultured on nitrate broth and nitrate reduction tests were conducted. The red colour formed was measured with a spectrophotometer to determine absorbance at 540 nm. From the standard nitrite curve, the concentration of nitrite was obtained. A total of 60 isolates were obtained from the POME sample and 55% were identified to be nitrate-reducing bacteria. Among the isolates, AEP H24, POM H7, POM H11 and POM H14 produced the highest amount of nitrite (>32 mg/L). These isolates will be studied in strain improvement experiments using radiation mutagenesis. Keywords: Palm oil mill effluent, nitrate reduction, nitrite ABSTRAK Efluen kilang kelapa sawit (POME) yang kaya dengan bahan organik telah didapati mempunyai kadar nitrat yang tinggi. Oleh itu, POME berpotensi menjadi punca pencemaran air kerana nitrat adalah sumber
118 nutrien yang sangat baik untuk pertumbuhan bakteria dan alga dalam air. Bakteria penurun nitrat mempunyai keupayaan untuk menurun nitrat kepada nitrit atau/dan sebatian nitrogen yang lain. Objektif kajian ini adalah menghasilkan satu prosedur untuk memencilkan bakteria dari air buangan kilang kelapa sawit dan menentukan keupayaan bakteria menurunkan nitrat serta paras nirit yang dihasilkan. Sampel dikumpul terus dari sebuah kilang kelapa sawit di Dengkil, Selangor. Pengasingan bakteria telah dikultur pada kaldu nitrat dan ujian penurunan nitrat telah dijalankan. Warna merah yang dihasilkan diukur dengan spektrofotometer untuk menentukan penyerapan pada 540 nm. Daripada lengkung nitrit piawai, paras nitrit diperolehi. Jumlah sebanyak 60 isolat didapati daripada sampel POME dan 55% telah dikenalpasti sebagai bakteria penurun nitrat. Antaranya, AEP H24, POM H7, POM H11 dan POM H14 menghasilkan jumlah nitrit tertinggi (>32 mg/L). Isolat-isolat ini akan dikaji dalam eksperimen penambahbaikan strain menggunakan mutagenesis sinaran. Kata kunci: Efluen kilang kelapa sawit, penurunan nitrat, nitrit
119 NEUTRONICS CHARACTERIZATION OF THE RTP CORE-16 Mohamad Hairie Rabir, Abi Muttaqin Jalal Bayar and Julia Abdul Karim ABSTRACT The RTP has been reshuffled 15 times since 1982. For ongoing study and irradiation, new core was proposed to increase excess reactivity and improve neutronics parameters. The new Core-16 configuration requires fuel position changes. The optimal configuration was determined based on the core's excessreactivity and peak power (Rabir et al., 2022). This paper provides a summary of the key findings from neutronic investigations conducted on the new RTP core configuration at 500 kW. In section 2, the computational tools used for analysis are described. In section 3, the key neutronic parameters, whereas in section 4, the principal conclusions of the presented work are drawn. This paper can be especially helpful for future research and development (R&D) studies linked to neutronics and safety analysis of the PUSPATI TRIGA Reactor because it describes the current status of the neutronic studies for the RTP Core-16.