House's plan to pass nuclear bill protested

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of antinuclear activists marched to the House of Representatives yesterday demanding that legislators cancel their plan to endorse the government-sponsored bill on nuclear power today.

The members of the Indonesian Antinuclear Society asked for a meeting with House Speaker Wahono but were told he was abroad. They then unfurled banners and waved posters.

"People's representatives: Are you ready to carry the sin?" read one banner. "Nuclear Power Plant Safe? Why Not in Jakarta?" another poster read.

The activists said they were planning another, bigger demonstration to coincide with the House's session this morning.

They said the bill was prepared to justify the government's plan to set up a nuclear power plant. In a statement, they also said the drafting of the bill showed that the government had ignored existing laws, including the 1982 environmental law and the 1982 law on the prevention of the spreading of nuclear weapons.

On Monday, the deputy director general of the National Atomic Energy Agency, Agar Djaloeis, said he was optimistic the government would approve the construction of a nuclear power station in Java.

Political opposition to the nuclear plant was not seen as a serious matter. The strong voices against the nuclear plant belong to a "very small minority," he said.

"But to a large extent, our people are not educated enough to assess the pros and cons of nuclear power," he said, adding that among the silent majority there was practically no significant opposition to nuclear power.

The nuclear plant, Indonesia's first, is likely to be built in Ujung Lemah Abang on the northern part of the Muria Peninsula on the northern coast of Central Java, he said.

Djaloeis said the nearby volcanic Muria mountain had been inactive for 320 years and posed no threat. If approved, the plant would require between 120 and 180 tons of uranium a year, and would have the capacity to generate 7,200 megawatts by 2015.

Westinghouse Electric Co., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Samsung Corp have started a feasibility study to develop a nuclear power station on a build/own/operate basis, Djaloeis said.

Yesterday the activists said the bill was drafted without any reference to the International Atomic Energy Association's regulations or the Wina Convention or the France Convention.

"It's not clear who would be held responsible for nuclear fallout caused by 'things beyond its operators' responsibility' as stated in the bill's Article 29," they said.

The bill, deliberated for only 37 working days, has also failed to state clearly the mechanisms through which a "victimized third party" could sue if the second or third generations after them suffered from genetic diseases caused by nuclear radiation. (aan)