PHILIPPINE SMRS | FOCUS ON ASIA


If the Bataan plant is scrapped, KHNP has the right to pitch a completely new APR1000 or APR1400 LWR. Source: ANS.


Rather than committing state funds to a rebuild, the DoE


is looking to international scientific screening. The DoE signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) in October 2024 to execute an exhaustive technical feasibility assessment on the BNPP structure. Under the MoU, KHNP agreed to fully fund the multi-phase technical and economic assessment, which began in Bataan in January 2025. According to the PNRI, this critical engineering assessment has been completed and submitted to the government’s nuclear energy interagency committee for formal review. If the independent technical assessment officially rules out the physical rehabilitation of Bataan due to safety, cost or geological risks, the MoU grants KHNP specific fallback options to protect its commercial foothold. Rather than terminating the partnership, the agreement pivots KHNP from a refurbishment contractor into a preferred greenfield developer. These options include direct transition to SMR and micro-reactor deployment. The MoU explicitly structures the Bataan site as a premium


nuclear asset, not just a single building. If the plant is scrapped, KHNP has the right of first refusal to propose building a new cluster of SMRs or micro-modular reactors on the same pre-zoned land. This allows them to reuse Bataan’s existing coastal cooling lines and grid sub-stations without restarting the local zoning process from scratch. If SMR technology is not ready to meet near-term energy demands, the MoU allows KHNP to pitch a completely new, large-scale greenfield nuclear plant next to the old facility. They can propose constructing their modern, fully certified APR1000 or APR1400 light-water reactors (LWRs). The agreement also allows KHNP to transfer its technical data and field teams away from Bataan entirely. They can pivot to conduct secondary feasibility studies on other government- vetted nuclear zones across the Philippines. The DoE’s Nuclear Energy Programme Inter-Agency


Committee initially announcing a baseline list of 15 potential locations in July 2021, which was refined and updated down to seven candidate sites across five provinces by August 2026. The five provinces comprise Bataan with two prospective locations (including the vicinity of the legacy NPP site); Palawan with two off-grid island locations; Masbate with one targeted island site; Pangasinan


with one northern Luzon grid-ready site; and Camarines Norte with one southern Luzon coastal site.


South Korea’s pitch By maintaining its active MoU status with the DoE, KHNP secures a front-row seat to bid for Pioneer NPP Status. This keeps South Korea positioned to secure long-term power supply contracts that bypass competitive bidding and guarantee fixed revenues for up to 50 years. In August 2025, Meralco signed a MoU with South Korea’s


DL E&C to launch a fast-tracked feasibility study and site assessment for a 320MWe SMR, and the following November, President Marcos Jr met with DL Group executives to review early parameters. In March, Meralco launched its human resource development pipeline, sending local scholars to the Kepco International Nuclear Graduate School (KINGS) in South Korea to build a workforce trained specifically for these systems. Feasibility studies and local site sequencing are currently under way. In South Korea’s nuclear export model, the government


organises state corporations and private builders into a single consortium known as Team Korea. KHNP is the state-owned nuclear utility that owns the reactor technology, handles core engineering and acts as the licensed plant operator. DL E&C is the private engineering, procurement and construction company that physically builds the plant facilities, layouts and infrastructure. When Meralco and the DoE look to South Korea, they contract both companies to handle separate parts of the same long-term road map. This combined state-and-private model gives South Korea an operational advantage over more fragmented international bidders. In addition, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea


Eximbank) intends to finance Philippine nuclear projects by deploying a highly integrated, state-backed financial strategy. Rather than leaving private utilities like Meralco to raise capital, the bank uses its sovereign balance sheet to absorb risk, lower borrow costs and secure contracts for Team Korea vendors such as KHNP and DL E&C. The financing framework operates through a trilateral agreement signed in March between Korea Eximbank, KHNP and Meralco. The bank offers direct, long-term credit lines and low-interest project


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