Govt to speed up nuclear power project

The government plans to accelerate the development of a nuclear power plant ahead of the original proposed completion date of 2016 to help reduce dependence on expensive oil-based energy and ensure adequate power supplies in the face of rising demand. The Jakarta Post reported on Wednesday.

Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman said Tuesday that his ministry was currently putting the necessary procedures in place to speed up the project.

?We will need around five years to complete the project. If we can start the study, go to tender and sign the contract for the project this year, the power plant could be onstream by 2011,? said Kusmayanto at the Vice Presidential Office following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on research and technology with the visiting Iranian minister of education, research and technology, Muhammad Mehdi Zahedi.

Asked if the government would seek nuclear technology from Iran, he said that it was ?possible.?

Kusmayanto said that the government was still in the process of drawing up a short-list of countries, including South Korea, Japan, France and the U.S, that could supply the technology.

However, a preliminary study suggested that it would be best to use South Korean technology because of its reliability and relatively lower price.

In order to provide alternative energy sources, the government plans to build a nuclear reactor in Muria, Central Java.

However, the country needs foreign assistance as it lacks the necessary technology, if ongoing talks with South Korea proceed well, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to sign a collaboration agreement on the development of nuclear power during a proposed future visit to that country.

State power firm PLN has already signed an MOU on collaboration in the nuclear power field with South Korean firm Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Ltd. Yudhoyono visited the firm?s plant late last year to seek firsthand information about its technology.

At present, Korea has 20 nuclear power plants, and is building another four. About 27.9 percent of the country?s power supply is generated from nuclear energy 29.1 percent from coal, 26.2 percent from gas, 7.8 percent from oil and the remaining 3.8 percent from hydro power.

Kusmayanto also said there was a local investor willing to take the lead in the development of nuclear power plant in Indonesia in collaboration with international firms with expertise in the nuclear field. However, he refused to name the investor. (*)