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)