Not Thorcon, Ministry Of Energy And Mineral Resources Reveals This Company Will Operate PLTN In 2030

Illustration of PLTN. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Director General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Yudo Dwinanda Priaadi revealed that NuScale will be a company that will operate Nuclear Power Plants (PLTN) in 2030.

This is different from what was actually reported when the company from America, Thorcon, was planning to build the first PLTN in Indonesia.

"So far we haven't met Thorcon. As far as I know, those who are walking besides Thorcon are NuScale. We talked to NuScale, they are willing if 2030 can. We ask if 2032 and a maximum of 2039 they can," Yudo told reporters quoted Wednesday, October 25.

Yodo explained that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources had met NuScale to discuss the development of the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology.

The US Trade and Development Agency also signed a memorandum of understanding with PLN Indonesia Power (IP) last August for the development of PLTN in West Kalimantan.

"That NuScale has signed with (PLN) Indonesia Power, the study cooperation is running again," added Yudo.

For the initial phase of PLTN development, said Yudo, Indonesia and NuScale will develop small-scale PLTN.

"For NuScale, SMR is on a small scale, safer, more advanced, suitable for Indonesia in remote places, islands," concluded Yudo.

Quoted from the official BRIN website, various small-power PLTN designs have been developed, one of which is by the NuScale vendor. NuScale is a well-known vendor from the United States headquartered in Portland Oregon.

NuScale currently has a SMR reactor design called VOYGR which is the first modular SMR reactor and the only one that has received a design approval certificate by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC).

The design of the NuScale Power Module is based on the already proven water-cooled reactor (PWR) technology and is being developed to supply energy for power generation, district heating, desalination, commercial-scale hydrogen production, and other process heat applications.

The SMR study with PLN IP based on the VOYGR-6 series, is based on the reactor module with each module equivalent to a capacity of 77 Mwe.

Broadly speaking, from an economic point of view, the electricity produced by this SMR type of PLTN will be slightly more expensive than the large PLTN.

However, due to the small scale, when compared to diesel-fueled power plants (BBM), the price is clearly competitive.

But when compared to coal, coal is indeed cheaper. But on the other hand, because Indonesia is committed to net zero emissions, it is also an advantage of this SMR. If we have the desire to reduce carbon release, of course this is a solution to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide gas.