Nuclear bill sets liability of Rp 450b

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But he argued that current legislation is obsolete, given the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)