Call PLTN More Safe THAN PLTU, Former Head Of BATAN Asks The Government To Start Prepareding Blank Islands For Radioactive Waste Disposal Site

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has entered phase one preparation for the construction of a Nuclear Power Plant (PLTN). This is marked by the formation of the Nuclear Energy Program Implementation Organization (NEPIO) which will play a major role in completing phase one of the development of PLTN.

Head of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) for the 2012-2018 period Djarot Sulistio Wisnubroto said the government is currently seriously working on the construction of PLTN in Indonesia, including regarding radioactive waste produced by PLTN. Djarot said that statistically PLTN is the safest generator compared to PLTU and other generators.

"People can see the reactor and hopefully never see a threatening problem with active radio accidents. We have many empty islands that are not inhabited and we can prepare them to dump radioactive waste," he said at the Energy Corner, Monday, October 31.

He added that radioactive waste itself has a different age range of 30 to 100 years or even thousands of years. For this reason, efforts to find strategic places, security, location for PLTN placement, anticipation of possible natural disasters, and including approaches to the community are still being carried out in order to run PLTN in the country.

Adapun selama ini, lanjutnya, pemerintah telah melakukan pendekatan kepada masyarakat di Bangka Belitung pada tahun 2017 dan masyarakat Kaimantan Barat pada tahun 2019.

Meanwhile, regarding the construction of PLTN, Member of the National Energy Council (DEN) Herman Darnel Ibrahim said the government still has many tasks to prepare for the construction of PLTN, including handling waste disposal, rules and responsibilities, planning costs, and who will carry out the financing.

"Check first all the rules during, what kind of supervisory agency and the responsibility of how, about waste, how to include buyers from where," he said.

Not only that, according to him, the government also needs to form a nuclear power safety supervisory agency that is independent and not bound to the government. Meanwhile, Indonesia currently only has a Nuclear Energy Supervisory Agency (Bapeten).

This is intended so that a decision is taken regarding the permit is made without the government's intervention.

"There also needs to be another agency, namely the owner or operator. It could be that later PLN or a new BUMN or it could also be private that owns it. It needs to be determined for every PLTN project," concluded Herman