Let people decide on nuclear plants: Environmentalists<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Environmentalists pressed their demand yesterday
\nthat the government let the public decide whether Indonesia
\nshould or should not build nuclear reactors.<\/p>\n
Activists from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment
\n(Walhi) and the Indonesian Anti-Nuclear Society (MAN) marched to
\nthe House of Representatives to make their demand heard.<\/p>\n
"The decision whether or not to go ahead with the construction
\nof nuclear power plants must be made by the people, not the
\ngovernment," Walhi's executive director Sukri Saat told House
\nCommission X, which is responsible for environmental affairs.<\/p>\n
The delegation was met by the commission's environmental
\nworking group, led by legislator Muhammad Muas of the Golkar
\nfaction.<\/p>\n
Muhammad expressed the view that the people should be
\nthoroughly informed about both the positive and negative aspects
\nof nuclear power.<\/p>\n
Despite fierce objections from conservationists and others,
\nthe government insists that a multi-billion-dollar nuclear power
\nproject will go ahead.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto said early this month that the use of
\nnuclear power plants in Indonesia might be unavoidable in the
\nfuture, as the country struggles to meet its ever-increasing
\ndomestic energy needs.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said that the government was aware that the use of
\nnuclear energy still entailed grave risks and that, therefore,
\nthe people needed to be thoroughly prepared for the nuclear
\nprogram.<\/p>\n
Chief of the National Nuclear Power Agency (BATAN) Djali
\nAhimsa said last month that nuclear power was the most reliable
\nsource for the 27,000 megawatts of electricity needed in Java and
\nBali. To satisfy the demand, he said, Indonesia would need 12
\nnuclear reactors.<\/p>\n
The government hopes that the construction of the first
\nreactor will begin next year in Ujungwatu village in Jepara, near
\nMount Muria in Central Java. The first power plant is expected to
\ngo into operation in 2003, with a generating capacity of about
\n800 megawatts.<\/p>\n
The government has already commissioned a Japanese consultancy
\nfirm, Newjec Inc., to conduct a feasibility study on Indonesia's
\nfirst nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n
Iwan Kurniawan, a nuclear expert who took part in yesterday's
\nprotest, said the Indonesia's nuclear power agency had been
\nbiased in the information it given to the people about nuclear
\nenergy.<\/p>\n
"BATAN has only provided the positive aspects of nuclear power
\nto the people and often hidden the negative ones," he said.<\/p>\n
He said he was doubtful that Indonesia was ready for nuclear
\npower. He pointed out that the Chernobyl tragedy in the former
\nSoviet Union on April 26, 1986, had occurred as a result of
\ncarelessness and a lack of knowledge about safety.<\/p>\n
"We still lack nuclear experts and we cannot construct the
\nnuclear plants without other countries' help," he said.<\/p>\n
Iwan said that leaked radiation took hundreds of years to
\ndisappear and that there was currently no cure for the illnesses
\nit causes.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Muas said the environmentalists' petition would be
\ndiscussed during the House's upcoming hearings with relevant
\ngovernment officials, including those from with BATAN.<\/p>\n
The environmentalists yesterday also took their protest to the
\nGolkar faction over the banning of a seminar they had planned to
\nhold last week.<\/p>\n
"We want a free debate to get as much input as possible about
\nthe government's plan to construct the nuclear power plants,"
\nSukri said, adding that they would follow every official
\nprocedure to hold the gathering.<\/p>\n
Ali Mursalam of the Golkar faction said he would ask the
\nMinistry of Home Affairs why it refused to issue the
\nrecommendation necessary for a permit to be issued for last
\nweek's planned meeting.(imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/let-people-decide-on-nuclear-plants-environmentalists-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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