T

he day that the government decided to proceed with nuclear power-generation is a sad day for the people and the beginning of a sad saga in Indonesian history. President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono will go down as the President that could not say no to the military and the business interests.

Just when the rest of the world is pulling back from the high risks of nuclear power, Indonesia decides to leap into to this high-risk industry. Electricity generation using nuclear reactors is an expensive and unnecessary option. Indonesia has so many more benign options for electricity generation but with a clumsy government controlled by the military and the wealthy, it is not surprising they opt for nuclear. It gives them status and “jobs for the boys” with expensive contracts.

Indonesia, more than any other country in the world, has enormous geothermal potential that is only now in its infancy of development. It could lead the world in renewable energy development. The number one concern of all is that Indonesia has such a poor reputation in its standards of construction, maintenance and discipline and that it has not demonstrated the disciplinary governance essential for safe operation of nuclear facilities.

Collapses of bridges, tollways, telecommunications towers, the worst safety record of any rail system in the world, ditto airline industry, are all symptoms of the underlying corruption and lack of discipline in construction and maintenance of infrastructure. How can anyone have the confidence that this culture will change overnight to one that we can trust to run a potentially very dangerous plant?

Indonesia, like Japan, is located on the same Pacific “Ring of Fire” of tectonic and volcanic activity that guarantees we will always have earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. But we are not Japan — that highly sophisticated, disciplined and precision-focused culture. We are Indonesia.

As for allowing PT PLN to run a nuclear power plant — that is when I migrate to South America! — I have seen their corruption and incompetence. I would prefer mati lampu (blackout) than have PLN at the controls of a nuclear power station that could destroy Jakarta in one “human error” incident.

Nairdah
Sydney