Jakarta. A Russian diplomat talked Tuesday about the possibility of Moscow striking a deal on nuclear power generation with Indonesia, saying Jakarta has to be specific about what sort of cooperation it seeks.

According to Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov, both countries have long been talking about working together on nuclear power development. The discussions even dated back way before President-Elect Prabowo Subianto proposed the idea in his recent meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Tolchenov told the press that the Indonesian government had long set sights on Russian small modular reactor technology, as well as its floating nuclear plant. 

While Russia stands ready to help Indonesia meet its electricity needs using nuclear energy, Moscow is waiting for Indonesia to give more details about what it really wants.

“We are really looking forward to the prospects and positive results of the cooperation in this field [of nuclear power development]. ... Now we need to find out what specific areas Indonesia is interested in and what we can do,” Tolchenov told reporters at his residence in Jakarta on Tuesday. 

“So we [Russia] are ready. We are just waiting for the Indonesian side to specify what they are looking for, and how we can proceed with this bilateral cooperation,” Tolchenov said.

Putin not long ago hosted a state visit from Prabowo at the Grand Kremlin Palace. Prabowo said at the time he had spoken with the Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom.

“In the field of nuclear energy, we have discussed with Rosatom the possibility of cooperating in this field, [including] the small modular reactors as well as the main reactors,” Prabowo told Putin.

The broadcasted version of the state visit did not reveal whether Putin was open to nuclear energy cooperation. The Russian president, however, did say his country was ready to “implement investment projects in energy”. 

Prior to Prabowo’s state visit, Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto had met with Rosatom’s top brass to pursue a similar deal. Airlangga said that nuclear energy could enable Indonesia to produce electricity without harming the planet.

According to Rosatom, Russia is home to 38 nuclear units in operation, including a floating nuclear power plant in Pevek. Over 19 percent of Russian electricity comes from nuclear plants. Rosatom also has overseas nuclear power plant projects such as in Bangladesh and China. Indonesia has three nuclear reactors -- but all are limited to research purposes. 

Add as a preferred source on Google +