Nuclear power

Nuclear power

Ricardo Simanjuntak's March 25, 1996 letter 'Horrors of nuclear testing' rightly condemns nuclear weapons use and testing, but mistakenly attributes them to "nuclear technology".

Nuclear technology, like any other, can be used for good or evil. It includes nuclear medicine's diagnostic tools and irradiation treatments for cancer which have saved thousands of lives, pest control and residue free sterilization techniques and clean, non-polluting production of electricity.

Should we ban "chemical technology" because it was used by Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein to murder innocent civilians? Or because the Bhopal chemical accident in India killed and maimed thousands of citizens?

Indonesia's peaceful use of nuclear technology for the benefit of its citizens is already well established, thanks to the programs of the National Atomic Energy Agency, which operates several research reactors. Indonesia can choose from the world's best and safest technologies for its own nuclear power program.

Nuclear technology is here to stay. How it is used is society's choice.

KEITH BRADLEY

Jakarta