Soeharto signs nuclear power law<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has signed into law a bill on
\nnuclear power which allows studies to begin on the country's
\nfirst nuclear power plant, Minister of Research and Technology
\nB.J. Habibie said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Habibie told a press conference that Soeharto signed the bill
\nlast Thursday, adding that the country's first nuclear power
\nplant could be constructed by the year 2006.<\/p>\n
Habibie said that a feasibility study could be finished within
\nsix months.<\/p>\n
\"This feasibility study will be carried out using the same
\nmathematical model as the old study in the late 1970s, and the
\nearly 1980s,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The study may finally recommend building a plant as large as
\n900 or 1,000 megawatts on the slopes of dormant volcano Mount
\nMuria in Jepara, Central Java, Habibie said.<\/p>\n
It took the bill 48 days to receive Presidential approval,
\nsince it was passed by the House of Representatives on Feb. 27.<\/p>\n
It is also the first bill of the year to be passed into law.
\nBroadcasting and disability bills, which were endorsed by the
\nHouse on Dec. 10 and Jan. 23 respectively, have yet to be made
\ninto laws.<\/p>\n
Habibie had himself earlier shelved the nuclear project when
\nthe House unanimously approved the bill last February. He then
\nsaid that the nuclear power plant would be a final source of
\nenergy for the country, after findings of geothermal energy in
\nSumatra, natural gas in Kalimantan and hydropower in other areas.<\/p>\n
He said that the bill, which he lauded as \"a grand work of the
\nHouse\", did not immediately justify the government's plan to
\nconstruct a nuclear power plant but made any future plans legal.<\/p>\n
A demonstration by members of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) and interjection by PDI legislator Laksmiari Priyonggo
\ninterrupted the House's approval of the controversial bill.<\/p>\n
The new law allows a non-government consultative body to be
\nformed to advise on the building of a nuclear power plant. The
\nprivate sector will also be permitted to take part in the
\ndevelopment of nuclear power.<\/p>\n
Few other countries, among them the United States, France and
\nJapan, have such large nuclear plants, Habibie said. (amd)<\/p>",
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