TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In a bid to meet demands on 35,000 megawatt of electric power by 2019, the government has planned to build a nuclear reactor in Serpong, Tangerang, Research and Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir said on Sunday, April 12, 2015.
According to Nasir, the nuclear reactor will open for public so that people can see how it works. The nuclear reactor construction is expected to be completed by 2018.
Djarot Sulistio Wisnusubroto, head of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN), said the power generation capacity of the reactor will reach 10 megawatt. Sulistio hopes that the approach to open the reactor for public would ease concerns over the nuclear power plant’s security.
Suilitio explained that a nuclear power plant is often associated with radiation leaks, such as that in Fukushima, Japan, and the Chernobyl tragedy in Russia.
“We want to convince people that nuclear power plant is safe and efficient. It will be like an electronic tourism (e-tourism),” Sulistio said.
Sulistio added that the fund for the nuclear reactor construction, which stood at Rp1.6 trillion (US$123 million), will be taken from the State Budget.
URSULA FLORENE SONIA
