Published
By Myrna M. Velasco
Even on a backdrop of a
threatening power crisis, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi indicated that one
of the energy policy agendas he is keen on completing under this administration
will be the State’s “national position” on nuclear power plant development.
“We already submitted
our ‘national position’…The President has been discerning into what is really
good for the country,” the energy chief said, when asked why Malacañang’s
approval process has been taking too long.
Once President Rodrigo
Duterte extends his go-signal on the Department of Energy-designed nuclear
power policy, Cusi noted that the next steps will be for them to work with
Congress on the legal and regulatory frameworks for this technology
installation.
He emphasized that at
least under this administration, the policy will be cemented; then the next
government leadership will just do follow-through initiatives on the actual
implementation and construction of nuclear power projects.
This year, the energy department has been intensifying its pitch for nuclear
power development as it opines that this is a way forward for the country’s
long-term energy security.
Cusi said “the time is
ripe for intensified and informed public discussions on nuclear energy and its
potential role in our energy security agenda.”
The energy chief is
aware that eyebrows are being raised on his proclivity for nuclear power, but
he stressed that his forthright response to critics will be “why not?”
Opening up debates and
public discourse on nuclear power development, he said, is well anchored on a
“favorable turnout” of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey that the
department has commissioned last year.
Relative to the
recommended repowering of the mothballed 600-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power
Plant (BNPP), Cusi cited that 79-percent of respondents had given affirmative
vote to it; while proposals to build new nuclear energy facilities had been
bestowed an approval rating of 65-percent.
Cusi said such survey results “are positive indicators on the acceptability of
nuclear energy,” with him adding that “respondents are aware that nuclear
energy possesses both benefits and risks.”
The energy secretary
added that about 70-percent of respondents also voted favorably on the
allocation of government funds for the construction of a nuclear power plant.
Cusi qualified though
that definitive development framework as well as regulations are still a
work-in-progress when it comes to the country’s nuclear power ambitions – and
these are among the key topics that must be fleshed out in public debates
relating to this technology option.
“Considering the
potential of safely utilizing nuclear energy for our power needs doesn’t mean
that nuclear power plants will immediately come out of the woodwork,” Cusi
averred.
He pointed out “the
entire process will take time, especially since we are still at the stage of
addressing the 19 infrastructure issues needed in developing a national nuclear
power program.”
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