Jakarta - Indonesia has an uranium reserve of at least 53,000 tons which could be used as basic material for building nuclear power plants (PLTN), including 29,000 tons in West Kalimantan and 24,000 tons in Bangka Belitung.
"Besides, Papua may also have a very large uranium reserve. But it still needs some research," Deputy for Development of Cycle Technology of Nuclear Substance and Engineering of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) Dr Djarot S Wisnubroto said here on Tuesday night.
It had been estimated that Papua island has uranium reserves or nuclear basic material in large amounts on the basis of the similarity of the rocks in Papua and those in Australia already known to have the biggest uranium reserves in the world, he said.
If a 1,000 MW PLTN needs 200 tons of uraniuam per year, with the reserves in West Kalimantan alone reaching 29,000 tons, Djarot said, it means uranium can be supplied for as long as 145 years.
"But it does not mean we will be producing uranium ourselves for a PLTN, because under the existing conditions, the price of uranium is quite low. It would be more efficient for us to buy it from other countries. The uranium reserve could be used for the future," he said.
Djarot said that to make basic material for PLNTN, the uranium must first be processed by purification so that the uranium could be brought to a highly purified level, reaching nuclear level and free from other pulluting elements.
Then it can be enriched to raise to its 235U degree to 2-4 percent, and eventually fabricated to prepare the nuclear fuel in the physical form according to the type needed by the nuclear reactor such as in the form of pellets with a diameter of 10 mm.
"With regard to uranium basic material at the Research Nuclear Reactor in Serpong, we need to buy it from the outside world, but it must be remembered that we are fabricating uranium domestically ourselves," he said.
Djarot also pointed out that a PLTN needs technology to process waste material and for permanent disposal, because the radio active level cannot be removed or disposed on into the environment.
The permanent disposal of nuclear waste, he said, needs to be quake-free with waste trapping locations so that it would not go the environment and clay.
"We have been processing radioactive waste material from industries and hospitals, and the waste from the reactor in Serpong for instance, is eventually retured to its country of origin," he said.(*)
Source: http://www.antaranews.com
"Besides, Papua may also have a very large uranium reserve. But it still needs some research," Deputy for Development of Cycle Technology of Nuclear Substance and Engineering of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) Dr Djarot S Wisnubroto said here on Tuesday night.
It had been estimated that Papua island has uranium reserves or nuclear basic material in large amounts on the basis of the similarity of the rocks in Papua and those in Australia already known to have the biggest uranium reserves in the world, he said.
If a 1,000 MW PLTN needs 200 tons of uraniuam per year, with the reserves in West Kalimantan alone reaching 29,000 tons, Djarot said, it means uranium can be supplied for as long as 145 years.
"But it does not mean we will be producing uranium ourselves for a PLTN, because under the existing conditions, the price of uranium is quite low. It would be more efficient for us to buy it from other countries. The uranium reserve could be used for the future," he said.
Djarot said that to make basic material for PLNTN, the uranium must first be processed by purification so that the uranium could be brought to a highly purified level, reaching nuclear level and free from other pulluting elements.
Then it can be enriched to raise to its 235U degree to 2-4 percent, and eventually fabricated to prepare the nuclear fuel in the physical form according to the type needed by the nuclear reactor such as in the form of pellets with a diameter of 10 mm.
"With regard to uranium basic material at the Research Nuclear Reactor in Serpong, we need to buy it from the outside world, but it must be remembered that we are fabricating uranium domestically ourselves," he said.
Djarot also pointed out that a PLTN needs technology to process waste material and for permanent disposal, because the radio active level cannot be removed or disposed on into the environment.
The permanent disposal of nuclear waste, he said, needs to be quake-free with waste trapping locations so that it would not go the environment and clay.
"We have been processing radioactive waste material from industries and hospitals, and the waste from the reactor in Serpong for instance, is eventually retured to its country of origin," he said.(*)
Source: http://www.antaranews.com
