Nuclear bill sets liability of Rp 450b

JAKARTA (JP): A government-sponsored bill on nuclear energy has set the maximum liability of a nuclear power plant operator or developer at Rp 450 billion ($120 million) for damages caused by leakage or any other type of accident.

The maximum liability includes the compensation the operator or developer will have to pay to victims of a nuclear accident, State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie told the House of Representatives.

Habibie, who also heads the team to determine various alternative energy sources for the country, represented the government yesterday in the first deliberation of the bill in a plenary hearing in the House.

Deputy speaker Soerjadi chaired the debate.

The bill itself was first presented to the House in January. There was no explanation as to why it has taken nearly six months for the House to start debating the bill, which will replace the present law on nuclear energy enacted in 1964.

If enacted, the legislation would pave the way for the government to build Indonesia's first nuclear power plant.

A feasibility study has already been conducted at the proposed site in Mt. Muria, Central Java, despite strenuous objections from many local leaders and environmental organizations.

The government had earlier been expected to announce the start of the construction schedule sometime this year, with a view to starting construction in 1998 and completion in 2003.

Contractors from Canada, the United States and Japan are among those who have already expressed keen interest in building nuclear power plants for Indonesia.

A polling by Kompas daily newspaper found that 52 percent of respondents -- selected from the educated middle class in big cities across Java -- rejected the nuclear plant at Mt. Muria; 42 percent said they accepted the idea and six percent did not have an opinion either way.

The survey, published in yesterday's edition of Kompas, polled 1,496 respondents by phone.

Habibie, who also chairs the Agency for Technology Assessment and Application, said the government would not start building a nuclear power plant until the new nuclear energy law is passed.

He stressed that this way, the decision on whether or not Indonesia should turn to nuclear energy is in the hands of the people.

But he argued that current legislation is obsolete, given the change in nuclear technology since 1964.

The existing law does not provide any protection for people in case of nuclear accidents. "Although the probability is very small, the consequences of any accident will be big," he admitted.

Indonesia currently has three small nuclear reactors that are being used chiefly for research purposes.

The new law will create a supervisory body for nuclear power plants separate from those managing such facility, Habibie said.

This, he explained, would prevent potential conflicts of interest and will be consistent with the International Convention on Nuclear Safety which Indonesia ratified in 1994.

Habibie said the government considers nuclear energy the last choice among the various available alternative energy sources.

But he said Indonesia's oil resources will soon be depleted in the face of rapidly growing demand, and the country would have to start importing its oil needs as early as the year 2000.

Meanwhile, a group of Indonesian students in Germany is urging the government to hold an open public debate on whether or not Indonesia should turn to nuclear energy.

The students, in a letter to the National Development Planning Board, said the debate should be broadcast nationwide.

Any decision on the issue should be settled in a referendum, it added.

"A nuclear power plant is a huge project carrying high risks. Any decision to build the plant must be transparent," said the students from the Alliance of Independent Indonesian Youth. (01)