Published August 29, 2017, 10:01 PM By Myrna M.
Velasco
The Department of Energy (DOE) has
secured the go-signal of Senate Committee on Finance for P50 million allocation
on its planned study that shall cement the country’s nuclear power program.
In a Senate hearing, the department
explained its pressing need for said budget so it could advance steps onward to
the Philippines next plunge into nuclear power development.
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who
chairs the Senate Committee on Energy, said they had seen the necessity of them
giving approval of the fund allocation; while emphasizing on expectations that
the study outcome must be comprehensive.
He noted the “system redundancies”
that many countries with nuclear program had resorted to following the 2011
Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear tragedy – that in turn had bloated capital spending
for new nuclear builds; the requirement to develop human skills and expertise
on nuclear management and power operations; and strengthening of both the
policy and regulatory frameworks underpinning a nuclear program, among others.
After a botched nuclear power
program back in the 1980s, the Philippines will effectively be re-taking ‘baby
steps’ on building up human knowledge and expertise on the development, risk
management and operation of such technology that could advance goals of energy
security.
In a recent interview in Ljubljana,
Slovenia relating to the operation of its close to 30-year Krśko nuclear power
facility, one prescriptive tone set had been that “relying solely on the
knowledge and competence of foreign experts could come as a ‘dangerous play’
for countries intending to take their foray into nuclear power in their energy
mix agenda.”
Dr Andrej Sistrar, director of
Nuclear Safety Administration of Slovenia’s Ministry of Infrastructure, noted
that engaging foreign experts for a country still developing the prowess and
mastery of its people on nuclear power program could help, but it does not
serve as the ultimate solution.
Priority in nuclear power program –
more than addressing external factors on safety and security issues – would be
on building up human resource on knowledge and technical expertise on nuclear
technologies, he emphasized.
“It’s difficult giving specific
advice to countries intending to have nuclear power program. But one major
requirement and key would be on ensuring that you have people with extensive
knowledge and expertise, that will be crucial on management of nuclear
operations,” Sistrar said.
He opined that having experts could
be a starting point for a country, but it would not be a sustainable paradigm,
so training and capacity enhancement of locally-based people would be
paramount.
Sistrar cited the experience of United Arab
Emirates (UAE) wherein they imported human resource on their nuclear power
facilities’ operations, but in the end, they have encountered some challenges.
That then made the country realized that it needed to produce its own set of
capable people on nuclear engineering and other facets of operations.
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