Policy review on research, development, and applications of particle accelerator in Indonesia

The number of particle accelerators worldwide increases in the order of above 10,000 units every decade, while only very small numbers have been built in Indonesia. This fact spurs a need of a comprehensive analysis of the cause. A review is urgently required to obtain the right direction of the research & development (R&D) program policy which should be in line with the world development trend and the user demand. The program should also produce outcomes and impacts which capable to spread and increase the accelerator applications with high local content. This paper describes a brief analysis of the R&D program policy of particle accelerator in Indonesia. The gaps between the world development and the research, development, and application of accelerators in Indonesia are reviewed. The capacity of an institution responsible for accelerator R&D is evaluated. Three indicators, namely sourcing and absorptive capacity, R&D capacity, and disseminating capacity are used as the evaluation parameters. The review results indicate that Indonesia was failed to anticipate the increased demand for medical accelerators and there was budgeting inconsistency in supporting the development of industrial accelerators. Moreover, the evaluation results of the three indicators come to suggestions that Indonesia still needs to strengthen the sourcing & absorptive capacity as well as the R&D capacity, and to improve the disseminating capacity.