Government says nuclear energy not a priority

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said stated that the government has decided that nuclear energy is not yet a priority for the country in meeting future energy demand.

He said that the government will instead focus on new and renewable sources of energy such as solar, marine power, geothermal, micro hydro and wind. ?New and renewable energy sources will be the government?s priority over the next five years,? he said to reporters following a meeting Tuesday with President Joko Widodo and Head of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) Djarot S. Wisnubroto.

Sudirman said that the government has asked Batan to team up with Bappenas (National Development Planning Agency) to develop a roadmap to determine as to when the country will be ready to adopt nuclear energy source.

Meanwhile, Batan?s Djarot said that the agency has been conducting research for the 40 years on nuclear energy technology. He said that the country has uranium potential that can be turned into future source of energy such as in West Kalimantan, Bangka, West Sulawesi and Papua.

He acknowledged, however, that there are concerns among the public about safety issue.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak