Batan chairman Djarot S. Wisnubroto described the new research facility as a place for researchers to study in depth the culture of nuclear security, stating that handling fragile facilities such as nuclear reactors required strict discipline.

'Safety and security cannot be separated when we are talking about nuclear power. The center has been established to further improve our nuclear safety,' Djarot said on Monday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Batan has received recognition from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and CSCA director Khairul has said that Batan would help the IAEA in promoting the culture of nuclear safety in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Igor Khripunov, a nuclear expert from the University of Georgia in the US, said that Indonesia was setting a good example to other countries by establishing a research facility focusing on nuclear safety.

The agency is currently handling three nuclear reactors for the purposes of research.

Indonesia has never used nuclear energy as a mainstream power source and plans for the construction of a power plant in Bangka-Belitung have been met with resistance from locals fearful of nuclear catastrophes like those at Japan's Fukushima-Daiichi power plant in 2011 and Ukraine's Chernobyl power plant in 1986.

Indonesia's location in the Pacific 'ring of fire', the site of a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, has heightened risks and popular concerns about nuclear power. (++++)

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