The meeting was led by BAPETEN Deputy Chairman for Nuclear Safety Assessment Dahlia Cakrawati Sinaga, and attended by PT Thorcon Power Indonesia Operations Director Bob S. Efendi and his staffs, as well as heads of work units at BAPETEN, including the Directorate of Licensing for Nuclear Installations and Materials (DPIBN), the Directorate of Inspection of Nuclear Installations and Materials (DIIBN), the Center for Regulatory Assessment System and Technology Assessment for Nuclear Installations and Materials (P2STPIBN), the Directorate of Regulation of Nuclear Installations and Materials (DP2IBN), and the Bureau of Legal Affairs, Cooperation and Public Communication (BHKK).

In her opening remarks, Dahlia stated that consultation is important in the construction of NPP given the technical requirements to be met, the time required, and the costs involved. The term pre-licensing, known in other countries, is not used due to scope limitations or absence in the existing licensing scheme. The term consultation does not replace the term pre-licensing because it has a different purpose and perspective.

Budi Rohman as Director of DPIBN, said that consultation at each stage of licensing will be carried out with the licensing unit for technical requirements and related documents. The road map discussion still takes into account the evaluation time carried out by BAPETEN so that Safety, Security, and Safeguard (3S) are still achieved.

Furthermore, Haendra Subekti, Director of DP2IBN presented the draft framework of the safety, security and safeguards consultation (3S Consultation) to trigger discussion by the parties. The consultation framework document contains the scope, plan and schedule that will be discussed further with a target completion date of February 2023.

Bob S Efendi expressed his appreciation for the acceptance of the consultation application for the construction of the TMSR500-type NPP and this is expected to be a model of good practice in the future because many things must be synchronized with other ministries/agencies. PT ThorCon Power Indonesia is targeting the submission of licensing documents to begin in early 2024. The proposed project plans include a salt laboratory, a Non-fission Test Platform (NTP) facility, and a TMSR500 type molten salt reactor. This consultation opportunity will be made the most of, and now is the right moment to start the construction of nuclear power plants because there are license applicants, there is a commitment to energy transition by the government, and there is support in the New Energy and Renewable Energy Draft Law.

BAPETEN opens as widely as possible to all business actors to conduct consultations and it is hoped that the construction of nuclear power plants can be realized shortly. [DP2IBN/Rommy/BHKK/Da]