Batan Tekno Announces Plan for Indonesia's 4th Nuke Reactor

State-run radioisotope firm Batan Tekno on Monday announced plans to build Indonesia's fourth nuclear reactor in the West Java district of Subang, targeting Rp 1.2 trillion ($103.3 million) in investment.

"Preparations ahead of the nuclear reactor construction have been completed in terms of design," Batan Tekno president director Yudiutomo Ismardjoko said in Jakarta on Monday. "We're now waiting only for the Bapeten [Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency] to process the related permits."

Yudiutomo did not say when exactly construction was planned to kick off, but he said that the reactor was expected to be finished by the end of 2016.

He added that the company had secured a commitment from the Russian Development Bank to support the project.

"From the Rp 1.2 trillion funding needed, as much as 70 percent will come from bank loans, and the remaining 30 percent from our internal cash," Yudiutomo told the state-run Antara news agency.

He added that Batan Tekno would partner with Egyptian and Belgian companies to develop the reactor, citing their experiences in developing reactors of the same type.

Batan Tekno, formerly a business unit of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan), split from the state research agency in 1996 and has since become a separate entity under the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises. Batan, meanwhile, remains under the supervision of the State Ministry for Research and Technology.

Yudiutomo said the Subang reactor was planned to produce radioisotopes, mainly for medical purposes, with a production capacity of 900 curies per week.

The company currently has a production capacity of merely 300 curies per week, produced at a nuclear reactor in Serpong, Banten, which is a facility owned by Batan. The Subang reactor will be Batan Tekno's first independent reactor.

Furthermore, Batan Tekno is currently partnering with US firm Babcock & Wilcox to develop a reactor in the US with a production capacity of 3,000 curies. Yudiutomo said Batan Tekno held a 51 percent stake in the project, while the US tech company held the remaining 49 percent.

"The construction of the reactor in the United States will start in 2014, and the reactor is expected to commence operations in early 2017," Yudiutomo said.

He said that the US reactor was expected to meet radioisotope demands for 1,500 US hospitals.

The Subang reactor, meanwhile, is expected to supply radioisotopes for 60 hospitals in the region, including 15 Indonesian hospitals. The rest of the products will be exported to Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

"By early 2017, we hope that Batan Tekno will dominate radioisotope market in Asia," Yudiutomo said.

The Subang reactor will become Indonesia's fourth nuclear reactor, as Batan currently operates three reactors in Serpong, Bandung and Yogyakarta -- most of which are for research purposes.

Batan, meanwhile, has been seeking for years to develop Indonesia's first nuclear power plant, touting it as a new renewable source of energy.

The plan, though, has faced resistance from local residents, including those of the Central Java town of Jepara and most recently on Bangka island in Bangka-Belitung province. Anti-nuclear groups have also questioned Indonesian officials' ability to operate a nuclear plant in a country that is rife with graft and vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

More