(Facility) readiness is required in managing radioactive waste in the country to support the use of nuclear for (improving social) welfare in various sectors.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is preparing to establish a low- and medium-level radioactive waste disposal site in Indonesia, which will comply with the safety and security requirements.

"We should not only develop the reactor or radiopharmaceutical facilities, but pay little attention to preparing the waste management facilities," Head of BRIN’s Research Center for Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste Recycle Technology Syaiful Bakhri said in a statement received on Monday.

Meanwhile, Head of the BRIN’s Nuclear Energy Research Organization Rohadi Awaludin said that Indonesia needs to prepare for the increasing use of nuclear energy in the country and ensure that nuclear waste can be managed properly.

"(Facility) readiness is required for managing radioactive waste in the country to support the use of nuclear for (improving social) welfare in various sectors," he explained.

A senior researcher at BRIN’s Research Center for Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste Recycle Technology, Budi Setiawan, noted that radioactive waste in Indonesia usually originates from research and development activities, hospitals, as well as industry.

According to the statement, this waste is processed in processing, evaporation, incineration compaction, and chemical treatment facilities. Later, it undergoes cementation before being stored in the internal storage facility and sent to the disposal facility.

Setiawan has said that the disposal facility, as the final part of the radioactive waste management process, aims to isolate the waste so that humans and the environment will not be exposed to it.

The site location and the design of the facility are components that need to be prepared for developing a disposal facility, he added.

Based on the statement, a number of criteria, including technical and non-technical aspects as well as geological and non-geological aspects, will be applied in searching for prospective locations for the disposal site.

Furthermore, a geotechnical evaluation will be carried out to determine the composition of the ground of the prospective disposal location. After the location is selected, the design of the facility will be developed.

Setiawan has said that the criteria used in preparing the disposal site must be in accordance with the regulation of the Nuclear Energy Control Agency (Bapeten) regarding the limit of environmental radioactivity value.

Assessments of prospective disposal site locations have been carried out in the Masalembu Islands (East Java province), the Muria Peninsula (Central Java province), the Bangka Belitung Islands province; and the SP-4 sector of the Serpong Nuclear Area (Banten Province).

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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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