KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia is evaluating the use of nuclear energy to generate electricity, a Malaysian official said here on Wednesday.

    Malaysian Energy, Green Technology and Innovation Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui told Malaysian Parliament that the use of nuclear energy was unavoidable as it would be costly to use gas and coal as power generator.

    Despite optimizing the use of renewable energy, the Malaysian government was looking seriously into the use of nuclear energy, added Chin.

    Currently, 90 percent of the power supply in the peninsular Malaysia is generated by coal and gas with the remaining 10 percent by hydropower.

    Chin also said that the nuclear energy program would take 10 to15 years to develop.