Indonesia moves ahead with plans to build nuclear power plant

Jun 29, 2006, 6:57 GMT

Jakarta - The Indonesian government is moving ahead with plans for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant, scheduled to start construction in 2010, local media reports said Thursday.

Officials said they will put the project to tender in 2007 to select a contractor to build the plant on Java, one of the world's most densely populated island.

'We will launch the tender next year so as to be able to meet the deadline,' Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

Purnomo stressed the nuclear reactor was part of 'our national energy policy,' and referred to Indonesia's energy blueprint which stipulates that the country will diversify its energy sources, including nuclear energy.

The minister said the plant, to be located near Gunung [Mount] Muria in the densely populated and earthquake-prone Central Java province, was expected to be producing energy between 2015 and 2016, with a capacity of 4,000 megawatts by 2025.

Purnomo said that contractors interested in bidding should have a proven track record in the construction of pressurized water reactors, adding such companies come from the United States, Japan, France and South Korea.

He added that an earlier target for the reactor to produce electricity by 2011 was impossible.

'It will require comprehensive studies by our nuclear scientists before the reactor is started,' Purnomo said. 'We don't think it will be onstream by 2011. It is just too short a time.'

Officials at the national nuclear power agency's development centre have said construction of the nuclear power plant aimed to overcome electricity shortages, in particular in the Java-Bali grid.

Indonesian environmentalists have long criticized the proposed nuclear power plant, saying there are cheaper, safer ways to generate power since the country has abundant geothermal, coal and natural gas resources.

The local environmental group Walhi has repeatedly warned that 'it's too risky to build a nuclear power plant on crowded Java island,' and argued that if something goes wrong, it would be an enormous catastrophe.

Java accounts for more than 60 per cent of Indonesia's 220 million people who inhabit the 17,000 islands that comprise the sprawling archipelago nation.

Activists have also warned that building a nuclear plant would be a major risk because of the frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes on the island. Indonesia is part of the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', where seismic activity is commonplace.

However, government officials have insisted that Mount Muria has been chosen for the nuclear power plant due to feasibility studies that show the location is the 'safest area' in terms of volcanic and tectonic activities and tsunami threats.

Mount Muria, located on the northern part of Central Java, has been dormant for more than 3,000 years, officials said, noting that nuclear technology has already been extensively applied in Indonesia, especially for agriculture, animal husbandry, health, water resources and industry.