Batan boss replaced for unclear reasons

JAKARTA (JP): The government yesterday installed Iyos S. Subki as director general of the National Atomic Power Agency (Batan) replacing long-serving Djali Ahimsa, Antara reported. The news agency did not state the reasons for the change.

Iyos is an old hand in the agency, having led the team doing the site and feasibility study of Indonesia's proposed first nuclear power plant in the Muria Peninsula in Central Java.

Iyos said yesterday the necessary technical studies have been completed and the agency is only waiting for the government's go- ahead.

The study concludes that Muria is "ideal", he said.

"Technically, the nuclear power plant could start operation in 2004," he told reporters shortly after being installed by Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono.

The Batan studies looked into the commercial and environmental aspects of the plant, he said, adding that the studies are reliable.

The government is now studying other factors such as the sociocultural and sociopolitical aspects, and mostly, the funding aspect, he said.

Environmental activists, fearing a potential nuclear holocaust, have deplored the government's nuclear designs.

Although the project is still in the early stages and conducting feasibility studies, critics have said the decision to go nuclear would be a fait accompli once the studies are completed.

Before making a decision the government should put the plan to public debate, they say.

The government has insisted that nuclear power is a last option, but one that should be kept viable for Indonesia in view of the rapidly increasing demands for energy and depleting hydrocarbon resources.

The official position was echoed by Iyos who said that it is no longer a question of "yes and no".

"Nuclear energy is an alternative. It is a blessing we have to make use of," he said.

He said a nuclear power plant does not carry a greater risk of accident compared with other power plants.

Statistics show there is a one-in-a-million chance of an accident happening at a nuclear power plant, while the risk is one-in-a-thousand for non-nuclear plants, he said.

But even if that one-in-a-million chance did occur, the government has taken precautions to minimize the risk of radiation, by building emergency systems within the plant and the installation, he said.

The House of Representatives is currently debating a government bill on the use of nuclear power in the country. Once endorsed it would pave the way for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant.

The House held a marathon debate on the bill with State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie this month, prompting criticisms from environmental groups that the House had been compromised on the issue.

Iyos said the bill does not bear a direct relationship to the study conducted by his agency. The bill looks at all the activities related to the use of nuclear technology, he said.

He said that once the bill was endorsed, the task of managing and supervising nuclear facilities, both currently in the hands of Batan, would be separated.

"Really, the question now is how do we make use of nuclear technology in a humane and just way," he said. (emb)