Nuclear plant to start in 1998

PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): The government will start construction of a 7,000 Mega Watt nuclear-powered generator on a 500-hectare plot at Balong village in the Jepara regency in 1998, Central Java Governor Suwardi said on Saturday.

He told The Jakarta Post that the Rp 52 trillion (US$23.7 billion) generator is expected to meet the increasing demands for electricity in Central Java. The electricity generator will be activated by 12 nuclear reactors.

Suwardi guaranteed that the generator will be equipped with sophisticated technology and will pose no safety hazards to local residents in Balong or in the Jepara regency.

"There will be no such incident like in Chernobyl, Russia," he said.

He also guaranteed that the project will not take much of the local residents' land, saying that most of the area for the electricity generator comes from cocoa and rubber plantations, which already belong to the government.(wah/imn)