Nuclear plant should be built in Jakarta: Scholar
Nuclear plant should be built in Jakarta: Scholar
SEMARANG (JP): If officials in Jakarta consider that nuclear power plants are really safe, then they should build one in the Indonesian capital city, a vocal scholar believes.
Sociologist Arief Budiman hopped on the anti-nuclear bandwagon on Saturday amidst growing speculation that the government was about to make the final decision on whether or not to go nuclear.
"If the government (in Jakarta) is guaranteeing that a nuclear power plant is safe, then why can't they build it in Jakarta?," Arief said.
National Atomic Agency Chief Djali Ahimsa, whose office is leading the nuclear study, said the government is only looking at one site for the country's first nuclear power plant, on Mt. Muria in the Jepara regency, Central Java.
"Why must it be in Jepara. This is not fair to the people in Jepara," Arief said. "What if it leaks, which is a possibility given the work ethics of the Indonesian people?"
He pointed out that the plan has never been on the agenda of the Central Java legislative council, which means that the government had never consulted the local people on the issue.
Djali in the past two weeks has been making public statements about the nuclear energy studies, and indicating that the government would soon accept proposals from foreign contractors to build a 1,800 MW nuclear power plant in Jepara.
His remarks were made although the government has not made the final decision on whether or not to resort to nuclear energy, and they raised speculation among anti-nuclear activists that the decision has in fact already been made behind their backs.
President Soeharto himself has stated that Indonesia would only resort to nuclear energy as a last resort.
Alternatives
This point was reiterated by Djali during a hearing with the House of Representatives on Friday, but he said the other alternatives such as wind power and solar energy would not be able to meet Indonesia's energy demands, while large scale use of coal is considered as too harmful to the environment.
To add fuel to its anti-nuclear campaign, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) published on Friday a survey in which it found that almost 80 percent of 1,000 people it interviewed oppose nuclear power plants.
Arief noted that the government appeared to be trying to monopolize the flow of information regarding its nuclear energy plans, and silence its critics.
The government is showing complete disregard for the wishes of the people, he said. It should be more honest and allow the public complete access to information about nuclear energy.
"It is the people who should decide this issue," he said.
Arief said most advanced industrial countries are already abandoning nuclear energy, including Canada.
"It's strange that Canada is making an offer. Their own people have rejected nuclear power plants," he said. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien during his visit in Jakarta last month offered Canadian technology to build the Indonesian nuclear plant.
"What is clear from the various offers made by advanced countries to build Indonesia's first nuclear power plant is that it is a dirty business," Arief quipped. (har/emb)