Delay on nuclear plant development hailed

JAKARTA (JP): Legislators hailed yesterday the government's intention to push back the construction of a nuclear power plant to 2020 or 2030, but environmentalists remain cautious over the announcement.

Mire Laksmiari Priyonggo of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction and her United Development Party (PPP) colleague Muhammad Buang praised the government for "its wisdom to heed the public's concerns."

But Indonesian Antinuclear Society activist Mohammad Anung and environmental expert Iwan Kurniawan said the government announcement had not dispelled their fears, and insisted the nuclear power plant plan should be scrapped completely.

The four were commenting on a statement made Tuesday by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie that the government might delay building a nuclear power station originally scheduled for 2003.

The decision was taken following the finding of abundant natural gas reserves in Natuna, Irian Jaya and Kalimantan and the rapid development of technology which boosts efforts to find new energy sources.

On Feb. 26 the House of Representatives endorsed the government bill on nuclear power in a plenary session marred by Mire's walk-out. Environmental activists accused the government of introducing the bill only to justify its plan to build a nuclear power plant.

Mire was in a cheerful mood yesterday, hailing Habibie as an honest scientist who had admitted that nuclear power as an old- fashioned technology.

"I'm relieved, because we now have ample time to find harmless energy sources. Or we can draw up a new bill to replace the one just passed," Mire said.

She suggested the government earmark funds for alternative energy studies.

"Indonesia is rich in energy resources, but why has the government allocated such a big budget only for nuclear power research?" she asked.

The government has spent Rp 22 billion (US$9.2 million) since 1977 on preliminary studies for a nuclear power plant earmarked for a site near the dormant Mount Muria in Central Java. It is expected to generate 7,200 megawatts of electricity per day.

Buang agreed with Mire, saying that the government had to allocate a larger budget to build safe power stations and give the research jobs to the Habibie-led Agency for Technology Assessment and Application (BPPT).

"I don't think money will matter if it is intended for public benefit," Buang said.

While approving the nuclear bill, the PPP faction had urged the government to pick nuclear power as the last option.

Anung, also an activist of the Indonesian Forum for Environment, said that Habibie's promise was not a guarantee the government would delay its plan for 20 years.

"I'm doubtful about the government's statement because the newly endorsed bill does not say anything about nuclear energy as the last power supply alternative," Anung said.

"I'm afraid the statement was just a government move to appease nuclear protesters. We are facing politicians," he added.

Habibie said Tuesday Indonesia currently had an excess supply of electricity. The state-owned electricity company PLN has never included nuclear power in its plans for electricity supply, arguing that it was unnecessary.

Anung said that if PLN's scenario was valid, the responsibility now lay with the government to optimally employ non-nuclear power sources.

He asked the President to delay signing the nuclear energy law pending a substantive revision of it.

"The law must give the House more power in the decision-making process of a nuclear power plant's construction, not just an advisory role," he said.

Iwan, an expert in nuclear experimentation, echoed Anung's anxiety, saying that BPPT had yet to reveal the results of its studies on nuclear feasibility in Indonesia.

"It's too early to predict that the government will revise its plans," he said.

"There remains a possibility that a nuclear power plant will be built due to the absence of scientific reasoning. If the government will not go ahead with its plan, why did it give the nuclear energy bill such a high priority?" (amd)

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