T

he government hopes to relocate the planned site of the country’s first nuclear power plant to Bangka island in Bangka Belitung province from Muria, Jepara, Central Java due to strong opposition from the local people.

National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) head Hudi Hastowo said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the government would soon conduct a feasibility study to explore the possibility of developing a nuclear power plant in Bangka Belitung, the country’s youngest province known for its tin production.

“Bangka Belitung is different from other planned nuclear power plant locations. The public welcome the plan and say they are proud to be the host of Indonesia’s first nuclear power plant,” he told a discussion at Hotel Ambhara in Jakarta.

Public resistance has long been the main constraint for the government to build nuclear power plants. The previous plan to build a nuclear power plant in Muria, Jepara, Central Java, faced strong opposition from the local people and non-governmental institutions.

Most people, particularly those living near planned nuclear power plant sites, have deep suspicion and distrust concerning the issues of the plant’s operational safety.

The agency’s spokesman, Ferhat Aziz, said that people’s rejection most likely came from negative opinions disseminated by anti-nuclear groups that prompted people to remember the nuclear reactor accidents on Three Mile Island, the United States, in 1979 and in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1985.

To address the public’s negative perception of nuclear technology, he continued, his agency had to assist people to understand the urgency and benefits of having such technology for future electricity supply in the country.

“It is necessary to explain honestly to the people the benefits and risks of nuclear technology based on valid data. In the end, they will understand these things, without coercion or pressure,” he said.

Indonesia currently has three nuclear reactors, namely in Banten’s Serpong, Yogyakarta and Bandung, West Java. Together the reactors can produce around 90 MW of electricity.

House of Representative Commission VII member Bobby Aditya Rizaldi told the discussion the government needed to be more serious and have stronger political will to support the development of the planned plants.

“Our government lacks political will. Just look at the very limited budget Batan has for its operation. The government establishes agencies to support its plans, but it makes them powerless,” he said.

Given that fact, Bobby said he was pessimistic that Indonesia would have a nuclear power plant any
time soon.

He suggested that the government learn from the success story of other countries like China, Italy, Vietnam and the United States.

“The ball is now in the government hands in whether it can optimize the potentials or not,” he emphasized.