Nuclear power plant study nears completion
Nuclear power plant study nears completion
JAKARTA (JP): The feasibility study on Indonesia's first nuclear power plant is now nearing completion and the government will soon accept proposals from potential contractors, the chief of the National Atomic Agency (Batan) said yesterday.
Djali Ahimsa told reporters that two potential bidders have already expressed interest: Westinghouse of the United States, in cooperation with Japan's Mitsubishi, and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
Djali said his agency will be accepting bids in the near future.
"I cannot say when the bidding will officially begin, but in the near future, we will be accepting proposals," he said after reporting on the latest progress on the study to President Soeharto.
Djali drew criticism last week for suggesting that the prequalification phase for the bid for the nuclear power plant project would begin soon.
Environmental organizations said his remarks were premature, given that the government has not publicly announced it will go ahead with the construction of the nuclear power plant. They said even President Soeharto has maintained that Indonesia would only turn to nuclear energy as a last resort.
Djali said Batan will soon commission a third consultant to give an overview of studies conducted by Japanese and Swiss consultants which look at the feasibility of such a project, and at the location, which is the Muria Peninsula in Central Java.
He added that if everything goes as planned, construction could begin in 1998.
He reaffirmed that Muria was the most suitable location for the project. "We're not looking at other sites."
He said the studies suggested that Indonesia build a nuclear plant the size of 1,800 megawatt, comprised of three 600 MW units or two 900 MW units.
Djali said Canadian interest in the project was indicated by Prime Minister Jean Chretien during a meeting with President Soeharto in Jakarta this month.
Westinghouse's offer stipulates for the power plant to be run by the American company, with the Indonesian government owning a minority stake in the project, he said.
The Canadian proposal insists on the government having some stake in the project, he said.
He added that the government has not fully decided on the best ownership structure, whether to own the power plant, or to allow a private company to manage it entirely.
On the question of nuclear waste, Djali said Indonesia will not be recycling the waste because it does not yet have the capability to do so.
Instead, for the first 30 years the waste will be stored within the nuclear plant's complex.
The waste would later be stored at one of the uninhabited islands in the archipelago, he said, pointing out that about half of the 17,000 islands in Indonesia are not inhabited. "We are studying the islands ... Of course we will take into account issues such as the geological and seismological aspects."
On the uranium supply, he said Indonesia would likely resort to importing the nuclear plant's raw material in the beginning because the world has an abundant supply at the moment.
Batan has identified small deposits of uranium totaling 10,000 tones in West Kalimantan but extracting them would be too costly at present, given low uranium prices, he said.
Batan will also be exploring for uranium in Irian Jaya when cost permits, he added. (anr)