Indonesien barsler med planer om at bygge fire aotmreaktorer i håbet om at skaffe elektricitet til nogle af Indonesiens 90 millioner mennesker, som for øjeblikket må klare sig uden. Atom-krisen i Japan ser ikke ud til at skræmme landet. Skriver IRIN i deres elektroniske nyheder tirsdag. For years, Indonesia – the world’s fourth most populous country – has grappled with a power crisis, with even cities like the capital Jakarta frequently hit by blackouts, and is turning to nuclear energy as part of the solution. “Our law states that nuclear is part of Indonesia’s energy mix,” Ferhat Aziz, a spokesman for the government’s National Atomic Energy Agency (BATAN), told IRIN, referring to a national development plan adopted in 2007. The government estimates Indonesia will need 450,000 megawatts of electricity by 2050; current capacity is 25,000 megawatts. “We have to look to the future. Our people need to have access to electricity,” he said. “Other than that, nuclear energy is clean because it doesn’t produce greenhouse gasses or acid rain, even though the initial cost is high.” In the dark Despite a national economy that boasted 6.1 percent growth in 2010, only 65 percent of the country has mains electricity, lagging behind most other countries in the region, according to the World Bank. Two-thirds of Indonesians without electricity live in rural areas, mostly outside Java and Bali islands, the Bank said. This lack of electricity has worsened access to food in the poorest areas, such as Papua and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Læs videre på: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92242
