Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajudha said on Saturday that his country was not expecting any international obstacle if it decided to have a nuclear reactor for power generation.

"Indonesia is one of the countries that have signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). Moreover, Indonesia abides by a transparent process, including giving the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection opportunities," he was quoted by official news agency Antara as saying on the sideline of the D-8 Summit opened on Saturday morning at Nusa Dua, Bali, Insonesia's resort island.

His statement was made in response to the possibility that Indonesia would face the same problem as Iran when it wanted to develop nuclear energy in the future.

Indonesia had been operating research reactors in Serpong, Banten and Yogyakarta for a long time and some countries had offered assistance for the transfer of energy, he said.

"So when Indonesia decides to have a nuclear reactor for electrical energy production, it will all depend on our decision when we are ready to use nuclear power as part of its energy diversification program," he added.

The will to use nuclear energy as the alternative energy was the problem faced by many countries, including the advanced countries following the soaring price of oil in the world market that might lead it into a serious matter, he said.

The energy consumption of Indonesia tended to increase, so such an effort to diversify the energy should be thought, he added.

"We are now focusing on coal and gas as we have huge reserves ( for both mineral)," he said.

Source: Xinhua