By: Ronnel W. Domingo - 05:08
AM November 20, 2017
A group of activist scientists said
cooperation on nuclear energy between the Philippines and Russia should leave
out plans to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), as the mothballed
and unused facility posed an environmental and health hazard.
According to the Advocates of
Science and Technology for the People (Agham), Russia and other countries
should instead help the Philippines develop its own technologies to harness the
indigenous and renewable energy sources.
Agham pointed out that the country
was rich in such resources, including geothermal, wind, and hydropower.
“While we welcome the knowledge exchange on
nuclear energy technology between Russia and the Philippines, we vehemently
oppose the studies on the possible rehabilitation of the BNPP,” Agham secretary
general Finesa Cosico said in a statement.
The BNPP is “an environmental and
health hazard with obsolete technology, perilously placed atop the active Lubao
fault and on the slopes of Mt. Natib, a capable volcano,” Cosico said.
Last Monday, Russia’s State Atomic
Energy Corp. signed with the Department of Energy a memorandum of cooperation
(MOC), which the DOE said “will enable the country to come up with national
policies for the development of safe and secure power generation practices
through nuclear energy.”
The MOC also covers the conduct of
“feasibility studies on construction in the Philippines of small modular
nuclear power plants, onshore or offshore, but not limited to analysis of
technical, commercial, financial and legal aspects.”
Also covered is the “audit and
assessment of the [BNPP’s] technical condition, including the option of its
rehabilitation.”
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has
earlier indicated his desire to revive the BNPP—which was completed in the
early 1980s, but never commissioned due to fears of substandard workmanship, as
well as allegations of corruption over its construction—in a bid to diversify
the country’s so-called energy mix.
“Since the country doesn’t have
uranium resources that can fuel nuclear power plants, we will return to a
similar scenario similar to oil and coal energy, where we remain dependent on
imported fuel [for the BNPP],” Cosico said.
“Nuclear energy also has direct
costs that can be passed on to the people such as nuclear tax, decommissioning
costs, and waste disposal costs,” she added. “This can result in higher rates
for electricity consumers.”
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