Why shouldn't we operate a nuclear plant in Indonesia?
Why shouldn't we operate a nuclear plant in Indonesia?
By Zatni Arbi
JAKARTA (JP): Why shouldn't we operate a nuclear power plant
yet? Because, basically, we are still too primitive.
Although no one will have difficulty agreeing that primitive
people should not handle sensitive and potentially devastating
technology like a nuclear power plant, many people will object to
the first statement in this article. How dare I call us
primitive.
After all, Indonesia was the first developing country to have
its own domestic communications satellite. We now have an
aircraft industry. We have a large community of scientists and
scholars. And we can easily send students to Japan, Canada or
France to be trained in nuclear power management.
But. A look at just a few of the accidents that happen every
day in Indonesia gives a more objective view of how our people
use technology and regard safety.
Technology is a double-edged sword that must be handled
carefully. Indonesians, however, have a strong tendency to ignore
safety -- especially the safety of others.
How often, for instance, do you see a family of five riding on
a motorcycle in fast moving traffic? One child straddles the fuel
tank, another is squeezed between her helmetless mother and
father on the saddle, and the baby is carried by his mother who
is barely on the saddle in the first place. One small pothole,
and perhaps two of the children will end up in hospital.
Heart-stopping examples of Indonesians disregard for the
safety of others also occur every day. How many loaded trucks get
mired in the muck on the shoulder of roads because the city water
pipe installers couldn't bother waiting for the excavation to
harden before paving over it? These dramas will, for all I know,
continue.
The intersection in a street in West Jakarta (see picture
right) had been opened to the public for two weeks when the
picture was taken. There is no warning whatsoever that a utility
pole is smack in the middle of the poorly lit intersection. Just
another example of an accident waiting to happen, but no one
cares enough to do anything to prevent it.
Blame it on globalization, or modernization, or development,
or whatever, but the truth is we are disaffected from the sense
of satisfaction that others get when helping people avoid
trouble.
Despite the beautiful motto gotong royong (mutual help) we
inherited from our ancestors, we have basically been transformed
into a selfish crowd. How can selfish humans be expected to have
compassion for others, let alone think about their safety?
Then, a disaster strikes and a lot of people suffer or die,
and the all too familiar Ping-Pong game starts. Rarely will
Indonesians have enough courage to admit, "It is my fault, and I
am fully responsible for it."
What usually happens is a shameless cover up. Where no cover
up is possible, nature is blamed. By doing so, we indirectly
blame God and not ourselves. We are not accustomed to taking full
responsibility for our mistakes, or preventing them in the first
place.
A nuclear power plant requires people with a high sense of
responsibility. The design of the plant will be no problem,
because it will be bought from a country with a long history of
nuclear power use and safety. However, the moment construction
begins is the moment our future becomes uncertain. All too often
construction specifications for public facilities are compromised
to yield personal benefits to the people in charge. Lower quality
materials are substituted by people who think it won't make a
difference.
No such compromise is allowable when building a nuclear power
plant. If a stretch of elevated freeway collapses, perhaps 100
people will die. When a nuclear plant leaks, however, millions of
lives will be affected -- for a long, long time.
Building a nuclear plant requires a different type of culture,
a culture that never fails to include risk in every cost and
benefit analysis. Indonesians, in general, are not used to
thinking about risk, we simply ignore it.
Although there are some highly professional Indonesians, they
are only a drop in the bucket. While we have begun to understand
the idea of competition, most of us are unaccustomed to the idea
of dedication to a job. Managing a nuclear power plant requires
everyone, from top to bottom, to be devoted and dedicated to
their jobs. Do we have enough people with this attitude?
The utter lack of discipline is another problem; a problem
that even prompted a nationwide discipline program. If Japan, a
country known for its discipline, can experience a leak, what
will happen in a society like ours?
Should we rush ahead and operate a nuclear power plant in our
primitive culture? Perhaps not now. Perhaps later, when we have
developed a culture of safety.
For now, just watch out for that utility pole in the middle of
the busy intersection.
The writer is a staff researcher at the Indonesian Institute
of Sciences.