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JAKARTA - AN EXPLOSION at an Indonesian nuclear research centre on Monday has intensified fears about the country's controversial plan to build a nuclear power plant.
The authorities were quick to stress that the blast which destroyed a National Agency for Nuclear Energy (Batan) laboratory in Serpong, 30km west of Jakarta, did not cause a radioactive leak, although it occurred 250m from a nuclear reactor.
They said the explosion was the result of an accident as scientists carried out experiments on biodiesel. The laboratory is housed on the 350ha site of the Research Centre of Science and Technology, which is also home to a nuclear reactor used for research.
'The experiment was conducted outside of the nuclear reactor zone, so there is no radiation leak,' the head of Batan, Mr Hudi Prastowo, said yesterday.
But MP Bahruddin Nasori of the parliamentary committee on mining and energy said the explosion was proof of the country's poor safety standards, and called on the government to review its planned nuclear project.
'If a small thing like this can go out of control and explode, imagine what could happen with a nuclear power plant,' he said.
The 3.20pm blast destroyed 80 per cent of the 200-sq m laboratory, bringing down ceilings and shattering windows.
Losses were estimated at 3.12 billion rupiah (S$505,000), and four scientists suffered burns to their faces and hands. Two were discharged from hospital within hours, but the other two were undergoing intensive treatment yesterday, officials said.
Mr Hudi said the agency would look into the cause of the explosion, although police have classed it as a 'pure accident'.
Scientists at the facility work on a range of government-sanctioned projects, including various areas of nuclear technology - from its use in agriculture and industry to its environmental impact.
A recent project, for example, used radiation mutation to produce quick-maturing, disease-resistant rice.
The Serpong reactor has been in place for two decades, and Indonesia has two other research reactors - in Yogyakarta and Bandung.
Monday's blast was the second at the Serpong complex. In 1994, an explosion at a warehouse killed one person, according to Kompas daily.
And it could not have come at a worse time for the government, which is planning a shift to nuclear energy to reduce the country's reliance on oil.
Plans to build South-east Asia's first nuclear power plant in Central Java by 2015 have already sparked protests by environmental activists, residents and Muslim clerics.
Critics say building a nuclear plant at the foot of the dormant Mt Muria volcano makes it vulnerable to earthquakes and eruptions.
Minister of Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman yesterday said: 'The explosion was not related to nuclear activities, but I am aware that many people will try to link it to the development of the power plant in Muria.
'It is our task now to convince people that they have nothing to worry about.'
asmarani@sph.com.sg
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