Women's Day turns into anti-nuclear protest
Women's Day turns into anti-nuclear protest
JAKARTA (JP): Women's Day on Friday was used by a group of
women to express their objection to nuclear power plants.
A group of 16 women signed a petition denouncing the
government's plan to use nuclear power to meet Indonesia's energy
needs.
The women -- from South Sulawesi, Yogyakarta, Central and West
Java and Jakarta -- were in Bogor for a seminar to discuss the
impact of nuclear power plants. The women said they had formed a
loose organization called "Women concerned about nuclear
reactors".
"As we commemorate Women's Day today... we are rejecting the
planned construction of nuclear reactors in Indonesia," their
statement read.
The group demanded that the government make available all
information about nuclear reactors and their effects,
particularly to women's health. "There must be open and balanced
information about the effects of nuclear reactors on people's
lives."
The government has yet to decide on whether to use nuclear
power to meet Indonesia's growing energy needs. A decision is
expected sometime in 1996.
The government has already commissioned a study on building a
nuclear power plant on Mt. Muria in Central Java. If approved,
the plant will have a capacity of 27,000 megawatts and will
supply Java and Bali. Djali Ahimsa, the chief of the national
Nuclear Power Agency estimated Indonesia needs between seven and
12 nuclear reactors.
President Soeharto has repeatedly stressed that nuclear power
will be the last alternative considered by the government. He has
also indicated, however, that Indonesia may have no choice but to
go nuclear.
Friday's discussion in Bogor concluded that nuclear power
plants expose Indonesians to radiation. "This has a strong impact
on women's bodies, including their reproductive organs, although
a plant may be functioning normally," the group's statement
asserted.
The signatories included Nur Asiah of the Anti-Nuclear
Students' Action Network in Ujungpandang, Okti Muktini Ali of the
Yogyakarta Women's Joint Secretariat, Titi Soentoro of the
Indonesian Anti-Nuclear Forum in Bogor and Wijiyatni of the
Foundation of Energy for People in Surakarta.
The workshop reviewed data and films on developed and
developing countries' experiences with nuclear power plants.
In the case of a disaster like Chernobyl in the old Soviet
Union, the group said the physical impact would include skin
cancer, blindness, and cancer of the womb. "Babies could be born
disfigured," the statement said.
It also said radiation and toxic waste entail social costs to
the public. (anr)