RI's first nuclear plant to be state of the art

RI's first nuclear plant to be state of the art

JAKARTA (JP): When Indonesia introduces its first nuclear
power plant around the turn of the century, it will employ state
of the art technology that includes all the best safety
precaution measures available, a senior government nuclear expert
says.

Djali Ahimsa, the director general of the National Atomic
Energy Agency (BATAN) said yesterday that by then, the nuclear
power technology will have entered its fourth generation, which
will have the most modern technology in nuclear safety.

"We will employ the most advanced technology that minimizes
the possibility of leakage and radioactive radiation," Djali said
in a keynote address of a three-day seminar on nuclear safety.

Although a final decision to go nuclear has not yet been
announced amidst strong opposition from environmental
organizations, government officials have signaled that Indonesia
may not have any other choice but to turn to nuclear power
reactors to meet the rapidly increasing demand for electricity.

In any case, preparation is going full steam with a
feasibility study already commissioned to a Japanese consultant
firm to inspect the prospective site at Mt. Muria in Central
Java.

Djali said the concerns expressed by environmental groups may
have been unnecessarily exaggerated since they ignored the fact
that nuclear power technology has continued to develop,
particularly its safety aspects.

Storage

"Experts in countries which uses nuclear technology are
confident about the safety of their technology and also about the
storage of nuclear waste," he said, citing France, Japan, Britain
and the United States as examples.

Djali said the first nuclear power plant project will be built
at an estimated cost of Rp 43 trillion (US$20 billion) before the
end of the century and should start operation in the year 2003 or
2004 to meet the needs of electricity in Java and Bali.

He said the plant would be built with a total capacity of
7,000 megawatts (MW).

The demand for electricity power was estimated to increase
from 5,800 MW at present in the region to 16,000 MW in 2000 and
27,000 MW to 32,000 MW in 2016, he said.

Meanwhile, an industrial expert of the ministry of defense and
security, said in his paper to the seminar that the public have
developed wrong perceptions concerning the nuclear power plant.

"The public should be told of the applications and advantages
of the nuclear power plant and of the modern technology already
developed to minimize dangers that it can pose to mankind and the
environment," said Suwhadi of the ministry's Agency for the
Research and Development of Industry and Technology.

Suwhadi agreed that going nuclear is the best alternative for
Indonesia to meet its electricity needs. "We have no other choice
but to build the nuclear power plant."

He called on national companies and local universities to
cooperate with BATAN and the Ministry of Defense and Security
Affairs in the nuclear power project.

"Big national companies and universities should give their
contributions to the nuclear power plant project because it has
become a national matter," he said.

Djali said BATAN and NEWJEC, the Japanese consultancy company,
are in the last phase of their joint feasibility study on the
site where it is proposed the power plant be built. (rms)