Delay on nuclear plant development hailed

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)

Treaty -- Page 2

Editorial -- Page 4