Govt to pick contractor for nuclear power plant soon
Govt to pick contractor for nuclear power plant soon
JAKARTA (JP): The government will soon announce the winning contractor for Indonesia's first commercial nuclear power plant project, an official said yesterday.
Djali Ahimsa, the director general of the National Atomic Agency (BATAN), would not say when but added that the contractors bidding for the Mount Muria Nuclear Power Plant project are from Japan, France, Canada and Germany.
Djali was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying that none of the contractors wished to have their names divulged at the present. "Every one of them has equal opportunity to win the bid."
Djali also said the final feasibility study for the project will be completed by the end of May.
The government last year commissioned Newjec of Japan to give one last overview of the various feasibility studies conducted for the project.
Djali said that earlier studies commissioned by the government found the proposed project for the 1,800 megawatt plant -- to be built at Ujungwatu village in the Muria Peninsula, near Mount Muria, Central Java -- both commercially and technologically feasible.
Djali said the final evaluation contains an analysis on environmental aspects, social and cultural studies, as well as geotectonic and seismic analyses gauging the likelihood of a volcanic eruption.
He said the study also includes a macroeconomic analysis of the project's feasibility.
If approved, construction of the nuclear power plant will proceed within the next three years. Djali said that it would be built on a Build, Operate and Own (BOO) basis, as suggested by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.
The BOO-based construction was first applied for the development of the thermal power plant in Paiton, Probolinggo, East Java.
Djali did not specify the total cost of the project, but promised to declare it in the near future. "We are not keeping any secrets. We'll tell you about the cost when the time comes."
Earlier last year the government said that, after the final feasibility study, the project would be opened to public debate before the government decided to go nuclear.
Yesterday, Djali said that BATAN would participate in any debate, which, he said, should include various outside groups and non-governmental agencies.
Furthermore, President Soeharto indicated earlier that Indonesia is still considering the construction of the nuclear power plant.
"Every power plant has risks, including a nuclear power plant, which is still being considered by Indonesia," Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono told reporters on Wednesday.
Djali made his comments yesterday at a seminar on nuclear energy, held jointly by BATAN and the Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF).
Some 100 participants took part in the seminar, which featured one Indonesian and four Japanese nuclear experts.
JAIF, established on March 1, 1956, is a Tokyo-based non- profit organization comprised of some 800 members with business and nuclear science backgrounds.
The Japanese speakers included Kunihiko Uematsu, technical advisor of the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation, and Shozaburo Ishimoto, deputy general manager of the Tokyo Electric Power Company.
The other speakers were N. Hirayama, assistant general manager of the Japan Atomic Power Company, and T. Sugisaki, director for International Affairs of the Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation. Mulyanto was the Indonesian speaker. (imn)