Sydney Morning Herald
Monday 6/4/2009 Page: 9
INDONESIA'S President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, yesterday backed away from longstanding and highly controversial plans to build a nuclear reactor in one of the world's most seismically active countries, saying it would instead develop existing energy sources and explore renewable alternatives before pursuing the nuclear option.
Dr Yudhoyono made the comments in response to a question at a carefully stage-managed "town hall meeting" with voters in Central Java, where the proposed nuclear energy plant was to be built. The event - at which Dr Yudhoyono roamed the floor answering vetted questions from members of the audience - marked the last day of open campaigning before 171 million eligible Indonesians vote for almost 12,000 candidates for the national parliament on Thursday.
In 10 years to come, or 20 years or 30 years to come, Indonesia must really develop its existing resources and these should be environmentally friendly," he said, adding that water and wind energy options would also be explored. If there are still other alternatives, we will not take nuclear resources." Analysts such as Professor Richard Tanter, from RMIT University in Melbourne, had been expecting that Indonesia could move swiftly to approve as many as four nuclear energy plants on the Muria peninsula in the north of Central Java province once the country's election season had finished this year.
While Dr Yudhoyono - who is strongly favoured to win a second term as president on the most recent polling - did not entirely rule out building a nuclear plant to meet Indonesia's chronic electricity shortfall, he made it clear yesterday that it would not be happening any time in the forseeable future. Residents in Java-the world's most populous island, home to numerous volcanos and prone to earthquakes - have vehemently resisted the idea. Officials from Dr Yudhoyono's Partai Demokrat confirmed yesterday that all the questions at the town hall meeting had been planned.
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