Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesian society needs to become better educated about nuclear energy power plants in the event the government builds one, according to National Energy Council (DEN) member Rinaldy Dalimi.
"Nuclear is cheap and clean. But information about nuclear being delivered to the public is one-sided, so now they need to be given more in-depth explanations about its use," Dalimi remarked here on Friday.
He said that if a nuclear power plant is expensive, the public should be aware of this in case electricity prices rise after a nuclear power plant is built.
With nuclear power, he said, the government might also allocate a greater power subsidy to pay for increased consumer costs.
In addition, he said Indonesia will rely on other countries to import uranium, since Indonesia does not mine uranium for nuclear power plants.
"Not many people know that our uranium is not economical. Most of them think we will use our own uranium, but in reality, it is not the case," said Dalimi.
Further, he added that nuclear power plants do not produce clean energy and require community preparedness in case of accidents, due to their widespread impact.
He further pointed out that Japan sought international help because it could not alone respond to the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima.
Indonesia only has personnel who know about the science of nuclear power plants, but the country does not have experienced personnel who can operate nuclear power plants.
He said that under the mandate of the national energy policy, nuclear is the final option to turn to after other energy sources have been used, noting that nuclear is dangerous to society. (WDY)
