Agency to move ahead with nuclear plant

Agency to move ahead with nuclear plant

JAKARTA (JP): Despite persistent protests from
conservationists, the National Atomic Agency plans to go ahead
with the construction of a nuclear power plant in Central Java.

Adi Wardojo, head of the Center for Nuclear Energy Studies of
the National Atomic Agency, told a press conference here
yesterday that the legal groundwork already existed for the
construction of the reactor.

"Law No. 31/1964 on atomic energy grants authority to the
National Atomic Agency to conduct research and build nuclear
power plants," he said.

The plant, to be built in the Ujungwatu village, near Mount
Muria, would use a "defense in depth" system, in which there
would be layers of protection to contain nuclear radiation, he
said.

He did not say when construction work would begin.

State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said
earlier this week that the government had no intention of
constructing any nuclear power plants in either the current or
the next Five-Year Development Plan period.

Yesterday, Kompas quoted Alex Toohey of the World Coal
Institute as saying in a seminar on coal and steam-generated
power plants held recently that coal energy was still cheaper and
safer than nuclear power.

"Environmental damage from coal-generated power plants can be
dealt with by existing technology, whereas damage caused by
nuclear power plants cannot be handled very well," he said, as
quoted by the daily.

Adi did not deny that Indonesia did not as yet have any
nuclear waste treatment facilities. He said the nuclear power
reactors in Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Jakarta could only keep
their nuclear waste in safe places until its radiative content
disintegrated naturally.

He also admitted that Indonesia had yet to acquire experts on
nuclear power, either from among local scientists or from abroad.

The government has taken a cautious stance over the matter,
with President Soeharto saying that nuclear power would be
considered only after all alternative sources--solar, coal,
water--were no longer sufficiently available.

"Nuclear energy would be the last option in meeting the
country's energy needs," Minister of Research and Technology B.J.
Habibie has stated.

As on many previous occasions, the agency said nuclear power
was superior to other sources of energy.

Adi said that "the use of nuclear technology is safe,
reliable, clean, environmentally-oriented, and relatively
economical."

He said public fears about accidents and leakages were
unwarranted. "We can assure you that the Chernobyl tragedy will
not occur here," he said.

He said research had shown that the risks of accidents in
nuclear power plants could be minimized through the use of the
latest technology.

The Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) continues to
object to the lack of public debate about the advantages and
disadvantages of nuclear power. During the past seven months the
organization has thrice tried to hold such a debate but in each
case the organization has either been denied a permit to hold the
gathering or the meeting has been disbanded by the authorities.
(imn)