Energy Observer Considers Putin's Nuclear Cooperation Offer Is Worth Accepting

JAKARTA – Gadjah Mada University energy economic observer Fahmy Radhi assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer of nuclear cooperation was worthy of acceptance.

When he met President Joko Widodo at the Moscow Kremelin, Putin offered to work on a nuclear project in Indonesia.

Putin stated, Rosatom State Corporation has experience, competence, and technological reliability in the development of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP).

"Based on Rosatom's experience, competence and technological reliability, Putin's offer to develop a nuclear power plant in Indonesia deserves to be accepted. Nuclear power plant is a thermal power plant that uses a nuclear reactor, with uranium as the main ingredient to generate electricity," he told the media, Monday, July 4.

According to him, nuclear power plants are clean energy, which can complement the new renewable energy mix (EBT) for power plants in Indonesia. Nuclear Power Plants can at the same time overcome the weakness of Solar and Wind Power Plants, which cannot supply electricity fully all the time, due to their intermittent nature, which depends on sunlight and wind gusts.

"Before the cooperation between Indonesia and Russia is realized, the government, the House of Representatives (DPR) and the National Energy Council (DEN) must change the National Energy Policy (KEN), which has been placing nuclear energy as the last alternative," he said.

The KEN, he said, must be changed to make nuclear power plants a priority energy.

In addition, the government needs to conduct a public campaign to increase the level of public acceptance of the use of nuclear power plants.

He considered, so far the level of public acceptance of nuclear power plants is still very low.

One of them is caused by the trauma of nuclear reactor accidents in several countries, including Japan, Russia and Ukraine.

However, technological advances in the latest generation of nuclear reactors, which are used by Rosatom, can prevent nuclear accidents from happening to zero percent (zero accident).

"Without developing nuclear power plants, it is very difficult for Indonesia to achieve zero carbon by 2060. It is time for Indonesia to seriously and continuously develop nuclear power plants by considering the offer of cooperation from President Vladimir Putin," continued Fahmy.

Also, he said, perhaps the cooperation would be able to further expedite the follow-up to the realization of the proposal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which was proposed by Indonesia.

For information, Rosatom has developed the largest nuclear power plant in Russia, namely Novovoronezh Unit 6, with a capacity of 1.200 MW in Voronezh.

Apart from being on land, Roastom is also building the KLT-40S Floating Nuclear Power Plant, which can sail around 5,000 Km, with a capacity of 80 MW.

Rosatom is currently using the latest generation of nuclear technology, the VVER 1200 reactor type with generation 3 Plus technology which is the first in the world, with an operating life of 60 years.

The VVER 1200 technology security system has a zero accident standard.