PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia won two awards in the field of nuclear science and technology at the Regional Cooperative Agreement (RCA) Achievement Award ceremony held in Vienna, Austria yesterday (Sept 26).

They are the RCA Regional Cooperation Awards for the institutional category and RCA Project Award for the individual category.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), in a statement today, said the Malaysian Nuclear Agency was named the recipient of the RCA Regional Cooperation Award for its active involvement in 141 RCA projects, organising more than 68 RCA activities that benefited more than 1,200 personnel, as well as providing 41 technical experts to RCA.

"As the main coordinator of a number of RCA projects since 2000, the Malaysian Nuclear Agency has contributed to the advancement of nuclear science and technology in the region by providing consulting services and analysis of materials and resources," it said.

The RCA Project Award for the individual category was won by a senior research officer at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Dr Ilham Mukhriz Zainal Abidin, who has been actively involved with the RCA project in the field of non-destructive testing techniques (NDT) since 2012 and contributed to the promotion of NDT applications for civil engineering and industrial structures.

The RCA Achievement Awards Ceremony was held in conjunction with RCA's 50th anniversary to give recognition and appreciation to member countries, organisations and individuals for their active participation, achievements and strong commitment in all RCA programmes.

The RCA is a cooperation agreement for research, development and training in the field of nuclear science and technology since 1972 under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

RCA consists of 22 member countries and Malaysia has been a member country of RCA since 1975 through the Malaysian Nuclear Agency under MOSTI.

-- BERNAMA