Ismira Lutfia, Jakarta Globe 16 Mar 10;
An environmental group on Tuesday condemned lawmakers’ decision this week to approve plans to build nuclear power plants in Indonesia.
Hikmat Soeriatanuwijaya, a campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said it was too early for the country to go down the nuclear path.
“It is not the time yet” for Indonesia to turn to nuclear power to anticipate the energy crisis as fossil fuels are depleted, he told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday. “We can try to seek other solutions because Indonesia is rich with renewable energy.”
The House of Representatives on Monday gave a green light to the government’s plan to build nuclear plants. The decision came after a weekend visit to the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) in Serpong, Tangerang.
Teuku Riefky Harsya, chairman of House Commission VII overseeing energy, technology and the environment, said the nation could no longer rely on non-renewable energy such as gas and coal to generate electricity.
Batan chief Hudi Hastowo told the Globe that the country would carefully weigh safety measures in building nuclear power plants because it is a party to the 1994 Vienna Convention on Nuclear Safety, which was established following the Chernobyl tragedy in 1986.
“There’s a binding regulation that we must take nuclear reactor safety measures very seriously,” Hudi said, adding that the regulations stipulate that nuclear incidents must be promptly reported to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency so that it can take precautionary measures.
“IAEA would be very strict in issuing permits for a country to build a nuclear power plant,” said Hudi. He added that an IAEA inspector in November unofficially endorsed Indonesia as having the capacity to build a nuclear power plant.
Hudi said that Batan would not operate nuclear plants but would serve as a supporting partner that would provide technical advice. “We now have to convince all stakeholders to support the plan,” he said, adding that building a nuclear plant was a long-term project that may take at least 10 years.
“What Batan can do is only promoting, familiarizing the public and drafting policy on nuclear energy. We need political and budget support from the government,” said Adi Wardojo, the deputy head of nuclear development at Batan. He said the agency had conducted a feasibility study on the construction of nuclear plants, taking into account safety, public interests and the environment. Indonesia has uranium reserves in Kalimantan capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of electricity for 150 years, he said.
But Greenpeace’s Hikmat said the government should first explore geothermal energy. Indonesia’s untapped geothermal energy accounted for 40 percent of the world’s total, he said.
“We could also try renewable resources such as solar, wind power or micro-hydro first,” he said.
