Masyarakat Ketenagalistrikan Indonesia (MKI) menggelar knowledge sharing and discussion dengan tema “Nuclear Power Plant 4th Generation” dengan menghadirkan dua narasumber, Prof. Dr. Sidik Permana dari Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) dan Prof. Dr. Motoyasu Kinoshita dari TEPSCO pada hari Rabu, 12 Juli kemarin yang berlangsung secara hybrid dari kantor MKI.

Prof. Sidik dalam judul paparannya “Nuclear Energy Contribution in Indonesia NZE Program and Potential SMR Implementation”. Prof Sidik menyampaikan beberapa benefit dari teknologi SMR yang meerupakan generasi keempat teknologi PLTN di abad ini antara lain:

Multiple build enables reduced costs through learning; Enables existing licensed sites to be used where space is limited; Small reactors can fit into limited electrical grid in remote regions, islands and in developing countries; Small reactors are simpler and more able to use natural convection and passive safety features and to be located underground.

Keunggulan lainnya seperti Modularity: in two senses – factory fabrication of modules for a simpler assembly on site and reactor units as modules that can be added to match demand; Lower Capital Investment: lower unit of investment and lower investment per unit power from factory fabrication and shorter construction times; Siting Flexibility: smaller footprint, less demanding infrastructure and possibility of siting on existing fossil sites nearer habitation; Gain Efficiency: use of heat for industry and other applications and coupling with other generation sources for more efficiency; Non-proliferation: Depending on type of SMR could lead to reduced transport and handling of nuclear materials and longer refuelling times, possibility of sealed fuel units.

Beberapa teknologi SMR yang diperbandingkan secara teknikal dan komersil (CAPEX & OPEX) antara lain: CAREM, ACP100, RITM-200, SMART dan NuScale menjadi bahan diskusi yang sangat interaktif antara narasumber dan peserta sharing session ini.

Sementara Prof. Motoyasu dalam paparannya kembali pada sejarah penggunaan dan implementasi teknologi nuklir sejak jaman the U.S. Navy’s first nuclear-powered submarine, on its initial sea trials, 10 January 1955, dijatuhkannya bom Hiroshima dan Nagasaki di tahun 1945 hingga pada bencana Fukushima di tahun 2011 dan banyak lagi lessons learnt dari masa lalu untuk dipelajari untuk menjadi modal pengembangan dan aplikasi teknologi nuklir di masa sekarang dan masa depan.

Beberapa hal terkait safety yang diambil dari slides Prof Motoyasu antara lain:

Safety Issue of Nuclear Power Plant Fukushima 3.11 (2011) accident tells most important issue is residual heat removal after stopping of nuclear reaction. The heat is generated by decaying of radioactive elements produced by fission reaction and left as waste material.

For safety at accident, engineering of emergency heat removal is the key.

For Solid Fuel: Heat is produced at fixed core structure so that cooling design tend to be high cost. AP-600 and NuScale prepare large water pool SMR makes this cooling easier and cheaper than standard (1000MWe class) reactors

For liquid Fuel: In design heat source with fuel moves out (drain down) from core and safely cooled. It has versatile design freedom. However, it is not automatically safe. you have to do many efforts to utilize its potential.

Lantas bagaimana dengan roadmap transisi energi menuju NZE di tahun 2060? “PLTN memegang peranan penting dalam mewujudkannnya setidaknya target 8GW beroperasi di kurun waktu 2036 – 2040, 21GW di tahun 2041 – 2050 dan sekitar 41 GW di kurun waktu 2051 – 2060” jawab Prof Sidik dalam penyampaian paparannya.