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)