Anti-nuclear campaigners have called on Indonesia’s government to abandon its nuclear energy ambitions, four days ahead of a high-level summit of Southeast Asian leaders.
Local environment watchdog Walhi Bangka Belitung joined anti-nuclear activists, including students and campaigners from Greenpeace, for a rally on Monday on the island of Bangka. It is happening in the same week as the annual Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) convening in Bali from 17 to 19 November.
Indonesia’s National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) has recently been promoting the building of a nuclear plant at Bangka as a possible location to its local residents.
A Greenpeace statement released on Monday called the rally a celebration of the government’s decision to postpone its plans to build nuclear power plants, but also urged Indonesia to keep the Bangka Belitung archipelago a permanently nuclear-free zone.
Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had said previously during a trip to Japan in June that Indonesia should explore other energy sources before building nuclear power plants.
More recently, Indonesia’s energy and mineral resources deputy minister, Widjajono Partowidagdo, told local media that Indonesia was not ready to build a nuclear power plant due to levels of corruption and weak supervision in the country.
But, according to the same media source, online publication TempoInteractive, Mr Widjajono said that a nuclear power plant might be feasible on the island of Batam if built and managed in cooperation with Singapore.
Greenpeace’s Indonesian energy campaign leader, Arif Fiyanto, said Indonesia’s leaders have put the nation on the right track by prioritising renewable energy and putting nuclear power plants on hold, but that they should cancel the nuclear plans outright if they truly want to ensure energy security for the nation.
“Nuclear energy has no place in modern safe energy systems. Indonesia and Asean must immediately decide to stop their fantasy forever to build a nuclear power plant in Southeast Asia,” he said.
Using the campaign slogan ‘Don’t Nuke Asean!’, the activists demanded that BATAN stop its campaign to promote a nuclear power plant in Bangka.
Walhi Bangka Belitung’s executive director Budi Ratno noted that President Yudhoyono and Indonesia’s vice minister of energy rejected the nuclear energy option when they postponed the nuclear programme. He added that BATAN and other promoters of nuclear power were “directly undermining” Indonesia’s leadership by campaigning for nuclear power plants on the island.
According to the statement, BATAN and nuclear industry players have been intensifying efforts at ‘socialization’, or getting community members to accept the idea of a nuclear power plant in their area.
BATAN announced a feasibility study for a nuclear plant in Bangka late last year, citing strong public support as one of the main reasons for the choice.
However, the disaster in March at Japan’s Fukishima nuclear power plant has since caused significant shifts in public opinion and government policies globally, most notably in Germany, whose government has vowed to stop using nuclear energy. Taiwan last week announced it would gradually move toward a nuclear-free energy supply.
Meanwhile, however, other countries such as China, India and Vietnam are all moving ahead with their nuclear plans.
President Yudhoyono outlined his broader energy plans for Indonesia earlier this week at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Hawaii. He said that in addition to the Indonesia’s efforts to increase its natural gas production, the Republic would pursue alternative, environmentally friendly sources of energy such as geothermal energy. He said that he would pursue partnerships to explore and exploit these sources, and would also work to reduce fossil fuel subsidies.
Greenpeace’s Mr Arif agreed that resources should be used for developing renewable energy rather than nuclear energy.
“Asean should encourage the development and utilisation of clean renewable energy, combined with ambitious energy efficiency programme. This is the only key to a bright future for Indonesia and Asean,” he said.
