COVER STORY | PHILIPPINES
Nuclear power position in the Philippines
Joseph Somsel looks at prospects for nuclear power in the Philippines, ahead of the May presidential election
Joseph Somsel
Nuclear engineer with experience in design, construction, economics and operations
ON 24 JULY 2020, PHILIPPINE President Duterte issued executive order to his government to develop a formal nuclear power policy, termed a “position.” His administration delivered a draft, so far unreleased, for his approval and signature that December. After more than a year during which he neither endorsed nor rejected the draft, on 28 February Duterte signed Executive Order No 164. This outlines a government position on the inclusion of nuclear energy in the Philippines’ energy mix, taking into account economic, political, social and environmental objectives. The next presidential election is scheduled for 9 May. The
price and reliability of electric power is an issue with voters and with potential foreign investors, so the ownership, organisation and management of the electric power system has become an issue in the forthcoming presidential election. So has nuclear’s role. So far, Duterte’s public statements on nuclear power have been ambiguous. The government already owns a substantially completed plant, Bataan, on the west coast of the Bataan peninsula. The Westinghouse two-loop PWR is rated at 621MWe. Work was stopped long ago, in 1986, as concerns over seismic
safety, the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, and Chernobyl led a new administration to suspend further work. It was maintained in a ready-to-run condition until 1995, when the fuel was sold to a German company and exported. Since then, the plant has been in ‘long-term preservation’. Various agencies within Duterte’s administration and the
national legislature have been actively preparing the ground for a renewed nuclear power programme. In 2018, a delegation from the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) was invited to conduct an Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR). Amongst the recommendations was for revisions to the nuclear statutes to better reflect nuclear laws in countries with active nuclear programmes. The legislature has made most of these legal changes, but one significant change yet to be implemented is moving nuclear safety regulation from its current home under the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute to a new independent agency. Additional legislation approval, funding, and staffing will be required. A public education programme was also initiated, starting with public school teachers.
Right (and inset): With natural gas from the offshore
Malampaya fi eld in sharp decline, will the Philippines now look to revive the Baatan nuclear project?
24 | April 2022 |
www.neimagazine.com
National Power Corporation
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