INDONESIA VIEWED AS READY FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT by Fardah

    Jakarta, Aug 15, 2015 (Antara) -  Having a population of some 250 million, Indonesia has always suffered shortages of power, forcing many cities to experience frequent power blackouts, while some remote villages still have no electricity.

         Of the country's 82,190 villages, 12,659 villages, or 15.40 percent of the total number, have no electricity, according to Suryamin, head of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), as of February 2015.

          Since the quantity of fossil fuel is limited, Indonesia has long considered using nuclear energy to produce electricity.

         Indonesia expects to have an operational nuclear power plant (PLTN) by 2030, according to Abadi Poernomo, a member of the National Energy Council (DEN). Until 2030, the use of fossil energy from coal, gas, and oil will still be the dominant sources of energy.  

DREAM OF LIVING IN WORLD FREE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTINUES By Fardah

 Jakarta, Aug 12 , 2015(Antara) -- "May one cry rise up from every land---say 'no' to war and violence and 'yes' to dialog and peace," Pope Francis said on the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragedy.

        "With war, one always loses. The only way to win a war is to never wage it," he added.

        On August 9, the Pope also told attendants at St. Peter's Square that humanity should simply reject war and most definitely "ban nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction."
   Earlier, the Pope had welcomed Iran's historic nuclear deal and viewed it as a positive sign.

        Under the new deal, the decades-old sanctions from the United States, European Union and the United Nations will eventually be lifted in exchange for Iran agreeing to restrict its nuclear program to peaceful purposes.

          The Indonesian government lauded the agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group, in Vienna on July 14. The group includes the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

INDONESIA STRIVES TO BECOME ROLE MODEL OF NUCLEAR SECURITY CULTURE by Fardah

     Jakarta, Oct 6, 2014 (Antara) - Indonesia has always believed in the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy and has been strongly committed to pursuing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

          As a country with a huge population of some 250 million, the Indonesian government has utilized nuclear science and technology to breed food crops and hopes to have a nuclear power plant (PLTN) to produce energy.

         Indonesia expects to have an operational nuclear power plant by 2030, noted Secretary General of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry (ESDM) M. Teguh Pamuji.

INDONESIA REAFFIRMS TOTAL, ABSOLUTE COMMITMENT TO NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT by Fardah

   Jakarta, March 28, 2014 (Antara) - At the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in the Hague recently, Indonesia reaffirmed its total and absolute commitment to the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

        According to Indonesia in its progress report presented during the summit, it realizes that the goal of a world free of nuclear weapon is the best way to stop proliferation and to ensure that nuclear and radioactive materials are not diverted for terrorist acts.

         Indonesia called upon all nations to promote universal adoption and full implementation of multilateral treaties whose aim is to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Year-Ender: RI DEMONSTRATES STRONGER COMMITMENT TO NUKE-FREE WORLD by Fardah

      Jakarta, Dec 27, 2011 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when speaking at an International Defense Dialog in March 2011 said a real push towards nuclear disarmament by the nuclear powers has given a good reason for the world to be optimistic in looking at the future.

       This year, Indonesia has demonstrated a stronger commitment to promoting a peaceful world which is free from nuclear threats by ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

RI APPLAUDED FOR RATIFYING NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY by Fardah

Jakarta, Dec 8, 2011 (ANTARA) - Fifteen years after the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (cTBT) was opened for signature, Indonesia has finally agreed to ratify the treaty, a decision that has been applauded by world leaders who said it helped the world move closer to end nuclear tests.

"Indonesia has always vigorously supported the CTBT and was among the first to sign when the Treaty was opened for signature on 24 September 1996. However, as a matter of principle, it deferred the ratification process on the principle that states that possessed nuclear weapons should commit to the Treaty ahead of anyone else," the Indonesian foreign ministry said in a statement recently.

RI VOICES NAM'S CONCERN ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS THREAT By Fardah

      Jakarta, June 25, 2011 (ANTARA) - As the Coordinator of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)`s Working Group on Disarmament, Indonesia has been very active in voicing the grouping`s concern about the threat of nuclear weapon to humanity.
      At the General Debate of the 2008 United Nations Disarmament Commission New York, in April 2008, Dr. Marty M. Natalegawa, who was at that time Indonesia`s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on behalf of NAM, stressed that progress in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in all its aspects is essential to the strengthening of international peace and security.

RI LEADS DRIVE FOR NUKE-FREE WORLD By Fardah

     Jakarta, June 7, 2011 (ANTARA) - Indonesia has been actively pushing for a world free of nuclear weapons at various regional and international fora such as the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and ASEAN.
       The most high-profile initiative taken by Indonesia so far was Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa`s announcement that his country intended to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). He did this at the opening of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in New York on May 3, 2010.

RI IN NO HURRY TO BUILD NUCLEAR POWER PLANT by Fardah

       Jakarta, May 12, 2011 (ANTARA) - The leaking of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant following the powerful earthquake in Japan last March 2011 has obviously caused many parties in Indonesia to do some rethinking about building a nuclear power plant.

       Since the 1980s, Indonesia has in fact been making preparations to build a few nuclear power plants. The country has even formalized the plan in Law No. 17/2007 that mandates the use of nuclear energy in the country by 2015-2019, meaning that a nuclear power plant is to be built by 2019 at the latest.

LONG, WINDING ROAD AHEAD FOR RI'S NUCLEAR ENERGY AMBITION By Fardah

Jakarta, Aug. 2, 2010 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has been mulling construction of a nuclear power plant since the 1980s prompted by predictions of the increasing unsustainability of the existing and mainly oil- and coal-fired national power generation system.

"Law No. 17/2007 mandates the use of nuclear energy in Indonesia by 2015-2019, so we should have a nuclear power plant by 2019 at the latest," Dr Taswanda Taryo, deputy head for research and development result empowerment of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN), said in Surabaya (East Java) recently.

JERMAN PAHAM BILA INDONESIA PERTIMBANGKAN ENERGI NUKLIR

     Jakarta, 13/11/1995 (ANTARA) - Menteri Lingkungan Hidup, Konservasi Alam dan Keamanan Nuklir Jerman Dr Angela Merkel berpendapat tidak ada alasan mengapa Indonesia tak patut mempertimbangkan pemanfaatan energi nuklir untuk listrik.
       "Terserah Indonesia untuk memutuskan jenis energi yang ingin digunakan," ujar Dr Merkel dalam wawancara dengan ANTARA di Jakarta Senin.
      Namun, Dr Merkel menekankan bahwa Indonesia harus lebih dahulu mampu mengatasai masalah pembuangan limbah radioaktif yang dihasilkan oleh pembangkit listrik tenaga nuklir (PLTN).