TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Atomic Power Agency (Batan) is planning to build an experimental nuclear-powered reactor to generate 10 megawatts of electricity.
Head of the Nuclear Energy System Review Center Yarianto Sugeng Budi Susilo, said that his institution has been building nuclear reactor for research purposes only. This time, the institution is developing a reactor in Serpong, Tangerang, that can actually generate electricity.
"The generated power is relatively small because it's not for commercial purposes, but for preparation and research purposes. And the reactor's coverage is only for the [Serpong] area," he said on Thursday, March 20, 2014, in a seminar titled 'Understanding the Fukushima Nuclear Accident and Its Recovery Effort' at Pancasila University.
Yarianto said that convincing the public about the safety of Nuclear Power Station (PLTN) remains as the biggest challenge because no nuclear power station has ever been operated in Indonesia.
GABRIEL TITIYOGA