TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom has offered the Indonesian government to build a nuclear power plant. Yesterday, May 9, representatives of Rosatom met with Coordinating Minister of Marine Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan in Jakarta to discuss the offer.
"They proposed a turnkey project for nuclear power plant," Luhut said after the meeting.
The minister said nuclear plants are more suitable to be built in areas not prone to earthquakes, such as Bangka and East Kalimantan.
But Luhut said the government will review the proposal first.
"If we take up the offer, it will take ten years to process. So we have not decided anything. We are not ready, and we must disseminate this plan to the public first. We need time for that," he said.
Energy and Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Arcandra Tahar agrees with Luhut and said the government must first make a study to know if the people are ready with nuclear technology.
"We need to build public acceptance of nuclear energy first," he said.
According to Arcandra, in the National Energy Policy (KEN), the use of nuclear technology is a last resort to build power plants. "We will make an evaluation first. If it is set as the last option, what does it mean? Are we not allowed to build nuclear plants?"
Arcandra said Rosatom has not discussed how much it is willing to invest in for the project. "We've only talked about possible locations, Indonesia's readiness, the investment scheme, the technology, and when it will start. They also asked if we have plans about nuclear energy," he said.
ANGELINA ANJAR SAWITRI
