The Jakarta Post 3 Dec 09;
Despite previous protests and controversy, the Indonesian government has recently renewed plans to build Indonesia’s first nuclear power plant in Muria Peninsula, Central Java.
State Research and Technology Minister Suharna Surapranata, who has been serving in the new Cabinet for less than two months, said here Thursday that blueprints for the plant were in progress.
“The plan to build the nuclear power plant must go on,” Suharna said as quoted by Antara, on the sidelines of a meeting with the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten).
Among aspects still under consideration, Suharna said, included who would operate the plant once established — whether it would be the government or a private firm.
As for the location, the government seems to have stuck to the previous plan of building the plant in the Muria Peninsula in Jepara, Central Java.
As part of the process, the government is currently training and educating staff at Bapeten and the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan), who are expected to run the power plant once it opens in 2016, Suharna said.
The construction of the plant is scheduled to begin next year.
