Nuclear debate untimely: Sarwono

Nuclear debate untimely: Sarwono

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja
said yesterday that the nuclear energy controversy is "premature"
since the government has not yet decided to go ahead with its
plan to construct a nuclear power plant.

"The government still sees (nuclear power) as a last
alternative energy source," he told a hearing with the House of
Representatives Commission X for science and technology. The
meeting was presided over by legislator H.M. Muas of the dominant
Golkar faction.

According to an energy usage projection issued by the Ministry
of Mining and Energy, Indonesia would not resort to nuclear
energy until at least 2003, he said.

Sarwono's statement, however, was contradictory to that of
another official. Sagala Hutabarat, a deputy chief at the
National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) said in Semarang last month
that, despite strong objections from environmentalists, the plan
to build the nuclear plant on the Central Java's Muria peninsula
is expected to go ahead.

Hutabarat said that the government regards nuclear energy as
the best option to meet the country's need for power, though it
is willing to listen to other opinions.

He also said that nuclear energy is a good option to meet the
country's increasing energy demands because other sources such as
oil, hydropower, geothermal and solar energy have "weaknesses".

During the meeting yesterday, P.L. Coutrier of the
Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal), who accompanied
Sarwono, said that the Japanese New Jec consultancy has completed
a feasibility study on the site for the project.

"The (consultancy firm) only studied the site selection for
the project, while the study on the regional impacts of the power
plant will be conducted only after (the government decides) the
type of reactors to be used and the planned capacity of the
plant," he was quoted by Antara as saying. (swe)