Bill allows govt to control use of nuclear power

Bill allows govt to control use of nuclear power

JAKARTA (JP): The nuclear power bill gives the government
control over all nuclear-related activities and suggests
protective measures to curb possible human and environmental
disasters.

At a press briefing, legislator Andi Mattalata said the House
of Representatives special commission on the bill finished its
four-month-long deliberations yesterday with the unanimous
decision to recommend the passing of the bill at the House
plenary session on Feb. 26.

However, debate over the controversial bill looks set to
persist. Two observers and a legislator deplored the House
commission's endorsement of the bill.

Submitted by the government in January last year, the bill
replaces the 1964 law on atomic energy and says an executive body
appointed by the President would be responsible for research and
development studies, exploration and exploitation of the
necessary minerals, production of nuclear energy and radioactive
isotopes and the management of nuclear waste.

The bill allows the body to cooperate with cooperatives and
state-owned, private and foreign companies.

Those companies and cooperatives would be able to use nuclear
energy for commercial purposes, while the executive body would
not.

The companies must first meet a set of requirements decided by
a President-sanctioned supervision body before they can be given
permits and approval to use the energy.

Mattalata, who chaired the House's 87-strong special
commission which discussed the bill, said yesterday that the
introduction of compulsory permits was among the measures
designed to protect the public from potential nuclear
catastrophes.

Other protective measures stipulated are insurance,
compensation and penalties against companies who misuse nuclear
power.

The compensation limit to victims of nuclear accidents is Rp
900 billion (US$391 million). People who misuse nuclear power
face a maximum penalty of a life sentence or a Rp 1 billion fine.

According to the bill, the government has to consult with the
House if it plans to build a nuclear power plant. The government
must also listen to advice given by an independent nuclear power
advisory council which groups experts and public figures.

Critics

I Nengah Sudja, a retired employee of the state-owned
electricity company PLN, said in a discussion held by the
Indonesian Association of Catholic students that there were
"economically and politically cheaper and safer alternatives" to
nuclear power plants.

"I believe other alternatives like steam or coal electricity
plants would be adequate for our future electricity needs," he
said.

Sudja was referring to the government's plan to develop a
nuclear plant near Mount Muria in Jepara, Central Java.

Nuclear expert Iwan Kurniawan said the government must let the
public decide whether Indonesia should build nuclear power
plants. The people should first be thoroughly informed about both
the positive and negative aspects of nuclear power plants.

He doubted that Indonesia was ready for nuclear power and
suggested the nation learned from the Chernobyl tragedy in the
former Soviet Union on April 26, 1986, that occurred as a result
of carelessness and a lack of knowledge about safety.

Iwan said leaked radiation would take thousands of years to
disappear and that there was currently no cure for the illnesses
it caused.

"We don't even have sites to dump nuclear waste, although I
heard the government has named two islands near Madura," he said.

Mire Priyonggo, of House Commission X for national development
planning, research and technology, said one of the islands
suggested was Kambing island.

Mire regretted the statement by a National Atomic Agency
official who said nuclear energy would be "a blessing for our
nation".

"Adam and Eve also believed that the apple was a blessing and
ate it. They were cast from Eden. Where will we be cast if we
insist on using nuclear energy?" she said jokingly. (amd/08)