Explosion at nuke research center kills one staffer
JAKARTA (JP): An explosion rocked a nuclear laboratory at the Center for Science and Technology Development (Puspitek) in Serpong, an area 30 kilometers southwest of the city, killing a staff member and injuring a cleaning service worker, an official said.
But Djali Ahimsa, the director general of the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan), said at an impromptu press conference yesterday that the Wednesday's accident caused no radiation leaks.
"We're still looking for the cause of the blast. We have not ruled out sabotage," he said, adding that certain groups might have caused the blast in an effort to discredit the agency.
Djali was apparently referring to staunch opposition among certain non-governmental organizations to the government's plan to build Indonesia's first nuclear power plant in Muria peninsular, Central Java.
The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), a non-governmental organization, demanded that the government thoroughly inspect the extent of the damage and determine whether the blast caused radiation leaks.
"If there are such leaks, the government should make the information public. They should not try to cover up the case, because the public has the right to know," Emmy Hafidz, a spokesperson for Walhi, told The Jakarta Post.
Batan is a state-owned agency which administers the nuclear laboratory along with its 30 megawatt research reactor, provided by Siemens AG of Germany.
Djali said that the police are currently investigating the incident. They identified the deceased as Waluyo, 39. The cleaning service worker who was injured in the blast was identified as Supriyanto, 26.
Supriyanto, who was evacuated from the building whose ceiling was brought down by the blast, is currently in intensive care at Assobirin hospital in Tangerang, 25 kilometers west of the city.
The laboratory, Djali said, is related only to engineering activities and no chemicals were stored there.
When asked about chemical smell around the site, he said that it was probably natural gas such as methane, which is not dangerous to human beings.
Police
Meanwhile Lt. Col. Latief Rabar, a spokesman for City Police, refused to comment on the incident.
"Sorry, I don't I have the authority to discuss the incident because it was a national project."
A reliable source at the Tangerang police, which also oversees Serpong area, admitted that they only knew about the explosion after they received a report on Waluyo's death from a hospital.
"The employee of the Puspitek suffered a critical facial wound," the source said.
The National Police deployed a number of their personnel from the Forensic Laboratory Center to investigate the incident.
The police have already sealed the building while the military officers had cordoned-off the whole area.
In a related development, local media, quoting unconfirmed sources, reported that an air conditioner caused the explosion.
Puspitek's executives announced earlier this week that they are going to open a tender for the development of a 10-megawatt reactor, as part of a major research program for a commercial nuclear-power plant.
The development of the US$ 26.88 million reactor is expected to enter commercial production in 1998.
Batan planned to build a 600-megawatt nuclear plant on the Muria peninsula on the northern coast of densely populated Central Java. -- the first of many such plants planned for the next 25 years.
A Japanese company has already completed off-site feasibility studies for the project. (09/bsr)