Prior the 2021 science and technology reformation, BATAN took role as the state nuclear research and development agency.
[3] Indonesia has stated that the program will be developed in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),[citation needed] and Mohammed ElBaradei was invited to visit the country in December 2006.
In 2006 Indonesia signed treaties for nuclear cooperation with a number of countries, including South Korea, Russia, Australia and the United States.
In mid-2014, BATAN and Russia's state-owned Rosatom have signed an agreement for developing the (30MW) Indonesia's first nuclear power plant.
Nearly 183 tons of monazite sediment was found in Mount Muntai, sufficient for nuclear power plants which will be built in West and South Bangka.
[13][full citation needed] BATAN continues searching for uranium sources and suitable sites for nuclear power plants.
Although local residents were opposed, BATAN was still considering the previously studied locations of Mount Muria, Jepara, Central Java and Serang, Banten.
[14] In July 2011, the Bangka Belitung governor requested the government to continue its plans for nuclear power plants in the Muntok and Permis areas between 2025 and 2030.
[18] A physics lecturer from Airlangga University has stated that the need for electricity continues to increase, while fossil-fuel reserves are being depleted; Indonesia is ready and able to develop a nuclear-power plant.
[20] Despite the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Indonesia is unlikely to halt its plan to build its first nuclear-power plant due to an electricity crisis.
[21] Modern plants are designed to operate in the circumstances of total power failure like that experienced at Fukushima, relying on passive safety systems that do not require electricity to function.
[23] In July 2023 Indonesia regulator BAPETEN led a public discussion of the planned ThorCon fission power plant at Gelasa Island.
[29] However, for 25 years after the law passed, not much significant development on exploration and exploitation of nuclear mineral resources in Indonesia by Indonesian companies.
In June 2007 nearly 4,200 protesters rallied in Central Java, calling on the government to abandon plans to build a nuclear power plant in their area.