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)