Govt rolls out red carpet for nuclear mining and processing
The long-awaited Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 52/2022 on safe and secure nuclear material mining was passed Dec. 12.1 The regulation mainly covers safety and security processes in mining for raw nuclear materials.
Before the regulation, foreign investors in Indonesia’s nuclear industry had not been able to do anything other than establish legal entities. Now, they can finally begin mining activities, as well as some parts of the nuclear raw materials processing.
According to article 1(2), only thorium and uranium series minerals are recognized as nuclear raw materials. Where these minerals can be mined is decided by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry as explained in article 1(3) of the Perpres. Meanwhile, article 1(14) of the Perpres gives the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten) the legal basis to supervise nuclear activities, while article 1(6) gives the agency the legal authority to determine what nuclear material processing facilities will be allowed to be built in Indonesia and where.
The introduction of these new regulations quickly prompted PT ThorCon Power Indonesia, the only foreign direct investment company (PMA) operating in Indonesia’s nuclear energy sector, to schedule a meeting with Bapeten the day after the bill’s passing.2
This meeting was classified as a consultation, where Bapeten determined what licenses ThorCon was allowed to have and what documents the company needed to apply for them. By the end of the meeting, Bapeten allowed ThorCon to apply for licenses for three facilities, namely a salt laboratory, a non-fission test platform (NTP) and a molten salt reactor type-TMSR 500. ThorCon estimates it should have all the necessary documents for these licenses by 2024.
However, the licenses ThorCon was allowed to apply for were limited to processing facilities because Perpres No. 52/2020 does not yet discuss electric generation through nuclear power plants (PLTN). According to experts in nuclear energy, Indonesia still needs at least three more things before the government can start constructing PLTN.
First, the president needs to state a commitment to build a PLTN in Indonesia. This commitment is similar to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s commitment to developing his extensive toll road infrastructure project. Secondly, the House of Representatives and the National Energy Council (DEN) must have the same level of commitment as the president. Finally, the government also needs to increase the public acceptance rate for nuclear energy.3
As a country that’s in the ring of fire, many Indonesian citizens are concerned with how well a PLTN would be able to withstand the country’s frequent earthquakes. When citizens in Bangka Belitung, where a PLTN was planned to be constructed, were asked their thoughts on nuclear energy on January 2021, some said they would rather there was more investment into renewable energy sources rather than nuclear. Plans to build a PLTN in Bangka Belitung have been in the works for many years, but the residents in the area have always been opposed to it.4
Many doubt the government’s commitment to nuclear energy. Currently, Indonesia’s most recent regulation on nuclear energy is Perpres No. 79/2014 on national energy policy, which states that nuclear energy is considered a last resort. More up to date law on nuclear energy development in Indonesia was supposed to be regulated under the new and renewable energy (NRE) bill, however that bill is still pending approval from the House.
In addition to that, the scope of activities regulated under Perpres No. 52/2022 is still limited. The meeting between Bapeten and ThorCon was officially called a consultation, despite being akin to the pre-licensing phase in other countries when constructing new plants. However, the term pre-licensing couldn’t be used because that phase is not recognized under the new Perpres and Indonesia has no other law that regulates nuclear mining and processing.5
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