Nuclear power plant is safer, official says<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's future nuclear power plants will be
\n"99.9999 percent safer" than any other source of power, new chief
\nof the Nuclear Energy Agency, Iyos S. Subki, insisted yesterday.<\/p>\n
The plants will be built with the kind of technology that is
\nable to minimize nuclear disaster, Iyos announced after opening a
\ntwo-day seminar.<\/p>\n
The seminar titled Nuclear Technology, Power Plant Safety and
\nFacilities was held at the Center for Science and Technology
\nDevelopment in Serpong, West Java.<\/p>\n
According to Iyos, Indonesia's nuclear plants will have five
\nprotective mechanisms within the plant's buffer zone to prevent
\nany form of danger resulting from possible explosions.<\/p>\n
Environmental considerations, according to Iyos, include
\ncontrol mechanisms for containing the plant's thermal effect and
\nemission from radioactive waste.<\/p>\n
"If radiation is a concern, people should know that we are all
\nexposed to natural radiation every day of our lives," Iyos said.<\/p>\n
A government plan to build the first nuclear power plant for
\noperation by the year 2004 has meet strong opposition from
\nvarious quarters, notably environmentalists.<\/p>\n
The government says a feasibility study has found dormant
\nMount Muria in densely populated Central Java an appropriate
\nsite. But Indonesia needs a law on nuclear energy before the plan
\ncan materialize.<\/p>\n
Debate about the nuclear power plant has lasted for at least
\nfive years. The government has agreed that nuclear power is a
\nlast option but one that should be kept viable for Indonesia in
\nview of the rapidly increasing demands for energy.<\/p>\n
The debate on nuclear energy in the House of Representatives
\nhas come to a deadlock as it enters the final stages, legislators
\nhave said.<\/p>\n
Legislator Andi Matalata from the ruling Golkar told
\nenvironmental activists Monday that the bill would not be passed
\ninto law until early next year.<\/p>\n
The government has set Dec. 12 as the deadline for passing the
\nbill, submitted to the House in January, into law. The
\ndeliberations have made little progress since legislators
\ndemanded the government obtain the House's approval before going
\nahead with building a nuclear plant.<\/p>\n
Skeptics have said the bill is a ploy to give the planned
\nnuclear plant a legal basis.<\/p>\n
Iyos repeatedly emphasized, however, that the agency was not a
\ndecision making body. It provides only suggestions and advice for
\nthe government. "We do not attempt to make political decisions,"
\nIyos said. (06)<\/p>",
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