The Department of Energy has sought a budget of P100 million to explore the possibility of developing nuclear power plants in the country.
According to Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras, the government should consider nuclear power as an option to shore up the country’s power supply.
Almendras, however, was quick to clarify that the DOE merely wanted to start discussions on nuclear power, in the hope of getting an “honest to goodness” evaluation.
The energy chief noted that it would take years to study the use of nuclear power.
Reaching a policy decision alone, based on what has happened in other countries, may take three to six years, while the actual construction of the nuclear facility will take as long as 94 months, Almendras added.
He said he had to turn down for now offers of two foreign nuclear companies, which he met during President Benigno Aquino III’s trip to the United States last month.
“There was one company that was proposing to come in for nuclear, but we told him we’re not ready because (the Philippines is) still determining our stand on nuclear, and we still have to do our study on safety standards,” Almendras said.
Another firm named Excel Services Corp., a nuclear power plant engineering company, wanted to give the government a proposal on how to rehabilitate the mothballed 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).
“I said we already have that from Korea Electric Power Corp. (Excel is) telling us that technology has changed, has shifted, and there are ways to mitigate seismic risks,” Almendras added.
Based on data from its website, Excel was founded in 1985 to provide regulatory and engineering services to the nuclear industry, nuclear regulators and federal agencies in the United States as well as in other countries.
The Aquino administration had earlier shelved plans to rehabilitate the BNPP, which was mothballed in the late 1980s over safety and environmental concerns, due to concerns over safety and economic viability.
But Almendras said that while BNPP was no longer an option, the current administration was still seriously considering the nuclear option.
According to the DOE, the country’s first 600-MW nuclear power plant should be in place by 2025.
