Nuclear Power Plant in Java: "I am Afraid"


Friday, February 29 2008 @ 03:01 PM CST


Villagers and others opposed to the construction of Indonesia's first nuclear plant in the foothills of Mount Muria, a dormant volcano on the north coast of Java gathered by the thousands on Thursday in protest.NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN JAVA: "I AM AFRAID"Villagers and others opposed to the construction of Indonesia's first nuclear plant in the foothills of Mount Muria, a dormant volcano on the north coast of Java gathered by the thousands on Thursday in protest.Government officials have consistently brushed away complaints about the region's unstable tectonics and the project's high costs, contending that the country can ill-afford to forgo atomic energy. Environmentalists warn that on top of frequent earthquakes and occasional tsunamis, Indonesia has more environmentally sound sources of alternative power to chose from, including geothermals and natural gas.The Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI) says the quake that occurred in the Java Sea last August, which reached 7 on the Richter scale, confirms that the area is unsuitable for the construction of a nuclear power plant. The organization argues the planned development of a nuclear power plant in Semenanjung Muria, Central Java will increase the disaster risk because there are almost no areas in Indonesia that are free of earthquakes. The nuclear radiation leakage accident at the Japanese Kashizawaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant last July WAHLI again demonstrates that there is no nuclear power plant design that can overcome natural phenomena such as earthquakes. WALHI contends, "It was lucky that there was not worse radiation leakage, since the majority of the nuclear reactor complex had been shut down for inspections by the Japanese nuclear safety agency due to some previous instances where reactor safety data had been falsified by TEPCO. If not for this, a major disaster could have occurred with regional impacts.""What happened in Japan is a warning," said Dian Abraham, coordinator of Manusia, an anti-nuclear lobby in Jakarta. "It could happen here. The government should stop their plans now.""Under the area where the power plant is planned there is now a minor fracture that didn't exist in the 1990s," says Nur Hidayati, the Jakarta-based climate and energy coordinator for Greenpeace Southeast Asia. "Indonesia has a lot of earthquakes. If a nuclear power plant is built here, the dangers will increase."Clearly the villagers around the site of the proposed plant agree.'Members of the Balong village community oppose the nuclear power plant!' reads a huge anti-nuclear banner fixed at the village's entrance gate."I am afraid the power plant will explode, and even if it doesn't explode, radiation could still leak," Sutrisno, a 59-year-old schoolmaster whose wooden home is one and a half kilometers, or one mile, from the planned power plant told the International Herald Tribune not long ago.Java, it must be pointed out, is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.However, it isn't only on Java people are concerned.Australian critics fear a catastrophic accident would have a major impact on nearby countries, of which they are one.Clive Hamilton, an Australian who has just spent two years as a senior economic and environmental adviser to the National Planning Agency in Jakarta, said one of his main concerns was that "Indonesia does not, at the moment, have the technical expertise to safely operate nuclear power plants."He said Indonesia was "an extremely unstable area geographically."If nuclear power were developed there, he added, then Australia and other nearby countries, particularly Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Papua New Guinea, "should be very concerned because there is the potential of a major accident."Despite fears of accidents and the opposition of environmental groups several Southeast Asian governments have either firm plans to develop nuclear power stations in the coming decade or have begun studies into its potential. The following is from the Jakarta Post.Locals reject nuclear project on Mount Muria Up to 3,000 villagers staged a rally in Jepara, Central Java, (which if you look really close is the red dot on the accompanying map) Thursday to oppose the planned construction of a nuclear power plant on the regency's Mount Moria.The protesters, mostly residents of Balong village in the Kembang subdistrict, as well as students and activists, carried protest posters and banners.They converged at a building in the middle of a sugar cane plantation which served as the National Atomic Energy Agency's Ujung Lemah Abang Nuclear Power Station Safety and Research observation facility.They stopped at the building entrance and addressed the crowd on the risks associated with nuclear power and later worked together to form the foundation of a concrete wall."This is our fourth protest since last year," rally coordinator Firdaus Rahmadi told The Jakarta Post at the site on Thursday."We only sealed the building symbolically in the three earlier demonstrations, but now we are really sealing it with a concrete wall."He said despite the protests, the government had not been decisive on the construction of the power station, which he said it had planned since the 1980s."The presence of the office, built in 1995, indicates that the government will resume with its plan," Firdaus said."We have decided to oppose it due to the risks it would pose to our lives."We also demand the central government to revoke the law pertaining to nuclear energy enacted in 1997," he said.The idea on the nuclear power plant came from former vice President B.J. Habibie when he was minister for research and technology in the 1990s and it won support from former president Soeharto.The plan was closely linked with the construction of the large Kedung Ombo dam, but the project was stopped after it met with strong opposition both at home and overseas.Bricklayers and residents worked hard to erect the wall which measured around eight meters in length.Trucks carrying sand, bricks, cement and water were going back and forth at the site, right in front of security guards.Mufid Busyairi, a legislator of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and member of the agriculture and forestry affairs commission at the House of Representatives, was picked to lay the wall's corner stone, which was followed-up by Balong village officials and residents."I purposely came here to observe the public's aspirations firsthand," Mufid said.A number of House members have reportedly decided to oppose the planned nuclear power station.Those who come from the Jepara electoral district have long-since opposed it."But the House is split over the plan," Mufid said.Balong village chief Suwanto was compelled to engage in the brick-laying activity because residents urged all village officials to take part."I'm in the middle. I can only follow the wishes of the people," Suwanto said."But on the other hand I also wish they could comply with the existing law."I'm grateful they have never resorted to anarchy during the series of protests so far," he said.A philosophy student at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Darul Hasyimfath, said he was surprised to see House members at the protest in favor with the people."Don't be a hero in this issue," he said,"Even we students, who had earlier informed people of the hazards of nuclear energy, feel that we haven't done anything special."The local residents are actually the champions."They fight for the cause."The House members are just politicians."Now they may likely say they oppose the program, but they will be in favor later when the political course shifts," Darul said.



From http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20080229150138185

Villagers against Indonesia's plans for nuclear power plant



By Sukino Harisumarto Aug 26, 2007, 18:02 GMT



Balong, Indonesia - Like the majority of villagers in Indonesia's densely populated Central Java province, 40-year-old Suhadi opposes the government's plan to built its first-ever nuclear power plant near his home.
It's not that Suhadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, wouldn't appreciate an end to rolling power outages and rationing, but that he fears a possible catastrophe.
'I just want to raise a question on whether the government can guarantee that a nuclear power plant is totally safe.' Suhadi, a farmer of Balong village, about 450 kilometres east of Jakarta, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'Or can they make sure that there won't be a big earthquake in this region that may trigger leakage at the plant?' he asked.
Only weeks after a recent earthquake in Japan heavily damaged one of the world's largest nuclear reactors and caused radiation leakage, residents here were deeply concerned with the proposed plant site only 1,500 metres from their village.
'Members of the Balong village community oppose the nuclear power plant!' reads a huge anti-nuclear banner fixed at the village's entrance gate.
However, the Jakarta government, which also has 230 million other Indonesians to consider, not to mention its industrial economic production, thinks otherwise.
Desperately seeking new sources of electricity to meet rising demand, Indonesia is moving ahead with controversial plans to build its first nuclear power plant, which if completed on schedule in 2017, would be the first in Southeast Asia.
It has chosen a site in the Muria Peninsula - now paddy fields and rubber plantations - at the foot of the 1,600-metre dormant Mount Muria volcano on the northern coast of Central Java.
Bidding on the tender for the 1.6-billion dollar plant, which officials say will produce as much as 4,000 megawatts of power by 2025, may begin as early as next year.
However, Indonesia is located along the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire,' a region prone to volcanic eruptions and destructive earthquakes. In May 2006, a 6.3-magnitude tremblor devastated parts of Central Java's cultural city Yogyakarta and nearby regions, killing more than 5,800 people. Yogyakarta lies about 200 kilometres south of Mount Muria.
Residents, backed by environmental activists who had for years opposed the government's plan, fear that the slightest tremor could trigger a fresh eruption and spell disaster for any reactor in its path. A radioactive leak could lead to human catastrophe on Java, one of the world's most densely populated islands with more than 100 million people.
'I don't want that recent incident in Japan or the Chernobyl disaster to occur here,' said Suhadi, whose red-brick home is 1 kilometre from the planned plant.
Despite their concerns, officials from the country's National Nuclear Energy Agency insist the Muria Peninsula was chosen only after feasibility studies found that the location is in the 'safest area' in terms of volcanic and tectonic activities or tsunami threats.
Hudi Hastowo, the agency's chairman, ruled out a possible eruption of the Mount Muria, claiming that the volcano has been dormant for thousands of years.
'Mount Muria volcano is in a phase of rest,' he said assured.
In a long-term energy plan released in 2006, government officials estimated that by 2025 about 4 to 5 per cent of the country's electricity supply will come from a string of power plants across Central Java, stressing that the nuclear energy was part of the country's national energy policy.
Indonesia is South-East Asia's only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, but its oil output has fallen in recent years to about 1 million barrels per day amid flagging investment. Nuclear technology has already been extensively applied in Indonesia, principally used for agriculture, animal husbandry, health, water resources and industry.
But environment activists claim that in recent years scientists have discovered a small geological fault below the proposed location. They say there are cheaper, safer ways to generate power since the country has abundant geothermal heat, hydro-power, natural gas and coal.
The Indonesian branch of the international environmental group Greenpeace called on the Indonesian government to heed the strong protests of the locals and nature lovers against the plan.
'The recent post-quake incident in the Kashiwazaki nuclear power plant in Japan is one of many warnings which should have been seriously heeded by the government and killed its ambition to built a nuclear energy facility,' said Nur Hidayati, a Greenpeace South-East Asia's climate and energy campaigner.
The July 16 earthquake forced Japanese authorities to indefinite shut down to Kashiwazaki's reactor after a 6.8-magnitude tremblor damaged the plant.
Local community leaders had accused officials within the central government only conveying information to the public through media reports on the benefits of the plant, without explaining the potential dangers.
The only senior official siding with the villagers of Balong is Environmental Minister Rachmat Witular, who wants the government to freeze the project until it is certain that it will be safe, or until there are no more objection from locals nearby.
'As long as there is opposition from the local community, a nuclear reactor cannot be built there,' Witular said.



From: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/energywatch/nuclear/features/article_1347879.php/Villagers_against_Indonesias_plans_for_nuclear_power_plant