Why shouldn't we operate a nuclear plant in Indonesia?<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Why shouldn't we operate a nuclear power plant
\nyet? Because, basically, we are still too primitive.<\/p>\n
Although no one will have difficulty agreeing that primitive
\npeople should not handle sensitive and potentially devastating
\ntechnology like a nuclear power plant, many people will object to
\nthe first statement in this article. How dare I call us
\nprimitive.<\/p>\n
After all, Indonesia was the first developing country to have
\nits own domestic communications satellite. We now have an
\naircraft industry. We have a large community of scientists and
\nscholars. And we can easily send students to Japan, Canada or
\nFrance to be trained in nuclear power management.<\/p>\n
But. A look at just a few of the accidents that happen every
\nday in Indonesia gives a more objective view of how our people
\nuse technology and regard safety.<\/p>\n
Technology is a double-edged sword that must be handled
\ncarefully. Indonesians, however, have a strong tendency to ignore
\nsafety -- especially the safety of others.<\/p>\n
How often, for instance, do you see a family of five riding on
\na motorcycle in fast moving traffic? One child straddles the fuel
\ntank, another is squeezed between her helmetless mother and
\nfather on the saddle, and the baby is carried by his mother who
\nis barely on the saddle in the first place. One small pothole,
\nand perhaps two of the children will end up in hospital.<\/p>\n
Heart-stopping examples of Indonesians disregard for the
\nsafety of others also occur every day. How many loaded trucks get
\nmired in the muck on the shoulder of roads because the city water
\npipe installers couldn't bother waiting for the excavation to
\nharden before paving over it? These dramas will, for all I know,
\ncontinue.<\/p>\n
The intersection in a street in West Jakarta (see picture
\nright) had been opened to the public for two weeks when the
\npicture was taken. There is no warning whatsoever that a utility
\npole is smack in the middle of the poorly lit intersection. Just
\nanother example of an accident waiting to happen, but no one
\ncares enough to do anything to prevent it.<\/p>\n
Blame it on globalization, or modernization, or development,
\nor whatever, but the truth is we are disaffected from the sense
\nof satisfaction that others get when helping people avoid
\ntrouble.<\/p>\n
Despite the beautiful motto gotong royong (mutual help) we
\ninherited from our ancestors, we have basically been transformed
\ninto a selfish crowd. How can selfish humans be expected to have
\ncompassion for others, let alone think about their safety?<\/p>\n
Then, a disaster strikes and a lot of people suffer or die,
\nand the all too familiar Ping-Pong game starts. Rarely will
\nIndonesians have enough courage to admit, \"It is my fault, and I
\nam fully responsible for it.\"<\/p>\n
What usually happens is a shameless cover up. Where no cover
\nup is possible, nature is blamed. By doing so, we indirectly
\nblame God and not ourselves. We are not accustomed to taking full
\nresponsibility for our mistakes, or preventing them in the first
\nplace.<\/p>\n
A nuclear power plant requires people with a high sense of
\nresponsibility. The design of the plant will be no problem,
\nbecause it will be bought from a country with a long history of
\nnuclear power use and safety. However, the moment construction
\nbegins is the moment our future becomes uncertain. All too often
\nconstruction specifications for public facilities are compromised
\nto yield personal benefits to the people in charge. Lower quality
\nmaterials are substituted by people who think it won't make a
\ndifference.<\/p>\n
No such compromise is allowable when building a nuclear power
\nplant. If a stretch of elevated freeway collapses, perhaps 100
\npeople will die. When a nuclear plant leaks, however, millions of
\nlives will be affected -- for a long, long time.<\/p>\n
Building a nuclear plant requires a different type of culture,
\na culture that never fails to include risk in every cost and
\nbenefit analysis. Indonesians, in general, are not used to
\nthinking about risk, we simply ignore it.<\/p>\n
Although there are some highly professional Indonesians, they
\nare only a drop in the bucket. While we have begun to understand
\nthe idea of competition, most of us are unaccustomed to the idea
\nof dedication to a job. Managing a nuclear power plant requires
\neveryone, from top to bottom, to be devoted and dedicated to
\ntheir jobs. Do we have enough people with this attitude?<\/p>\n
The utter lack of discipline is another problem; a problem
\nthat even prompted a nationwide discipline program. If Japan, a
\ncountry known for its discipline, can experience a leak, what
\nwill happen in a society like ours?<\/p>\n
Should we rush ahead and operate a nuclear power plant in our
\nprimitive culture? Perhaps not now. Perhaps later, when we have
\ndeveloped a culture of safety.<\/p>\n
For now, just watch out for that utility pole in the middle of
\nthe busy intersection.<\/p>\n
The writer is a staff researcher at the Indonesian Institute
\nof Sciences.<\/p>",
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