TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Nuclear power plants have been deemed unsuitable for Indonesia. The country’s natural conditions that are susceptible to earthquakes and the availability of other energies have placed nuclear at the bottom of the list of the nation’s energy sources for power plants.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the international community was also divided on the use of nuclear as an alternative energy. “Several countries, such as Japan, have begun reining in their [nuclear] production on environmental reasons,” Kalla said in a seminar on energy diversification at Hotel Borobudur in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 14, 2015.

On the other hand, he went on, South Korea has just kicked off their nuclear development. According to JK, his popular name, drawing on nuclear as an alternative energy in Indonesia was difficult, allowing for the country’s susceptibility to tremors. Besides, he said, other energies, such as geothermal, coal, solar and hydro energies, were profuse in the nation.

“We are different from other countries. We are rich in natural resources,” the vice president said.

JK added developed countries, including the United States, were not reliant on nuclear as a power source, and that 60 percent of the U.S. energy for power plants stemmed from coal.

The vice president explained Indonesia once attempted to build a nuclear power plant in Kudus, Central Java, which stirrd an outcry from locals on the grounds that it would be detrimental to the environment. “But basically all energies bear their own risks,” he said.

“Energy diversification has three main conditions. Besides being affordable, alternative energies must also be clean and easy to get,” he said.

FAIZ NASHRILLAH‎