Jakarta. Russia is still waiting for Indonesia to revise the existing regulations before they can proceed with the plan to partner on nuclear power generation, according to a Russian diplomat.

Indonesia is seeking to add nuclear power into its energy mix by 2032. Countries that are already running on nuclear energy want to take part in Indonesia’s energy transition journey. Earlier this week, the Energy Ministry claimed that some countries had proposed a pre-feasibility study on nuclear energy. On several occasions, the Indonesian government -- including President Prabowo Subianto himself -- admitted to having spoken with Russian nuclear firm Rosatom. 

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov revealed Friday the latest updates on the nuclear energy talks.

While Moscow looks forward to helping the Southeast Asian country use what Tolchenov said to be “cheap and safe” energy, Indonesia is still waiting for some progress on the necessary legal framework.

“We should wait for any official decision by the [Indonesian] president and government that the country will really develop nuclear energy. At this moment, they are still mentioning that there needs to be amendments to the law,” Tolchenov told reporters in Jakarta.

“I don’t see any official decision yet [on nuclear power generation in Indonesia]. After that, we are ready to sign the [necessary] documents and agreements,” the envoy said.

Tolchenov called Russia a “world champion” in nuclear technologies as the country has developed reactors of different shapes and sizes. Russia is home to the world’s first floating nuclear plant: Akademik Lomonosov.

At present, Indonesia’s bilateral cooperation on nuclear energy that has witnessed actual progress is with the US. The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) rolled out a $2.3 million grant for PLN Indonesia Power, a subholding of the state utility firm, to run a feasibility study on a small modular reactor project in West Kalimantan. The project will use technologies developed by the American small modular reactor company NuScale.

Work is underway to make changes to the government regulation on the national energy policy. The existing rule says that nuclear power is a “last resort” for electrification. The National Energy Council (DEN) is keeping its fingers crossed that the revised regulation would come out by next year, thus paving the way for the first nuclear power plant to operate by 2032 as targeted. 

Indonesia already has three nuclear reactors in Yogyakarta, Serpong, and Bandung, but the country only uses them for research purposes. DEN revealed that they had mapped out 29 potential nuclear power plant sites, many of which are in West Kalimantan.

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