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The ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has understandably made most people averse to the idea of anything nuclear.

So it might be surprising to learn that nuclear technology is already being used in Indonesia. Even more surprising, it is being used to maximize the use of water resources.

Wibagyo, from the Center for Isotope and Radiation Technology at the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan), said stable and safe nuclear isotopes were being used to determine the volume of available freshwater and groundwater in the country.

The isotopes, he said, are disseminated in the upstream areas of rivers, where there are ample ripples to ensure the perfect mix of isotopes and water.

After the isotopes are dispersed, the water downstream is tested to determine the river’s volume, said Wibagyo, who is the head of the Hydrology and Geothermal Nuclear group at the isotope center, which is also known as Pitir Batan.

“The isotopes are also used to map the flow of underground rivers in caves in areas where the surface is predominantly limestone, such as in Gunung Kidul,” he said, referring to a dry area in Wonosari district in the southern part of Yogyakarta.

This underground mapping is useful in preventing water from being pumped from the streams up on the surface, he added.

In a visit to Indonesia earlier this month, Kwako Aning, the deputy director general for technical cooperation at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the global nuclear regulator was concentrating on raising awareness of how atomic technology could be useful for water, a resource that is becoming scarcer in many parts of the world.

Aning said that apart from being useful in determining the availability of underground water reserves, stable isotopes could also determine how much reserves had been used.

These isotopes, he added, can also determine the nutrients contained in the water, so that when the water is used for irrigation, the farmers “will not overfertilize their farms.”

A joint study conducted by Batan and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in the 1990s showed that the common perception that groundwater in Jakarta originated in the Puncak area was incorrect.

“We found out that the water in Jakarta actually comes from the Depok and Cibinong areas,” Wibagyo said.

Nuclear technology opponents have advocated the use of other energy resources such as geothermal instead of the establishment of nuclear power plants. But Wibagyo said that nuclear technology would still have a role to play.

“We’ve used nuclear technology to monitor available water reserves surrounding geothermal vents to determine if there would be a generous supply of water before exploiting the geothermal vents,” Wibagyo said. He added that large water reserves were essential to a geothermal plant’s steam-generating process.

“Geothermal vents would not be exploitable without enough water supplies surrounding them,” he said.

Although nuclear technology is used in almost all aspects of life, the IAEA’s Aning said it had still not gained acceptance with many people because of what he called a “misunderstanding.”

He said the idea of nuclear power being only a destructive force had carried over from the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

“So it is imprinted in our genes that this technology is wrong,” he said, adding that the key to making the best of nuclear technology was to use it securely and safely.

“There should be no problem with it if it is used properly,” he said. “Without safety, this technology is useless, so the key is to use it safely.”

Aning lauded Indonesia for being a pioneer in nuclear technology. The country has used the technology to enhance various sectors such as food, health and water management.

“Indonesia has been ready since decades ago to apply nuclear technology in many fields,” he said.

But he added that in response to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, IAEA member countries were scheduled to convene a ministerial meeting in June to review the standard safety procedures surrounding nuclear technology in their respective countries.

Indonesia’s science and technology attache in Switzerland, Syahril, who was in Indonesia to accompany Aning, said the IAEA hoped Indonesia could take the lead in the region for the innovative and safe application of nuclear technology.