Duterte signs nuclear power order

Manila: The Philippines may soon join the nuclear club after President Rodrigo Duterte signed an order adopting a new nuclear energy policy direction for the country.

Executive Order 164 could also pave the way to the rehabilitation and use of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) and the construction of smaller, modular nuclear power plants.

Duterte signed the order on Monday (February 28, 2022), and was announced by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday, March 3, 2022.

“This policy is the start of the national nuclear power programme,” Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. stated in a press conference.

The new policy states that the country “shall ensure the peaceful use of nuclear technology anchored on critical tenets of public safety, national security, energy self-sufficiency, and environmental sustainability”.

Study funding

Duterte’s single, six-year term ends on June 30, 2022.

In 2018, the Philippine Senate earmarked $5.12 million (Php266-million) to fund the Department of Energy’s nuclear research and feasibility study.

Executive Order 164, sets the course towards harnessing nuclear power as a source of electricity in the country.

Feasibility study should be made public

On Friday (March 4, 2022), Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called on the Department of Energy to disclose the results of the Philippine nuclear program study first before adopting any nuclear energy programme for the country.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy, said transparency “is the most important factor in any discussions on nuclear power.”

“The Senate has funded the Department of Energy’s nuclear research and feasibility study amounting to Php266-million since 2018,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

“This study should be made public in order for the Filipino people to understand the risks and benefits of nuclear power injected into our energy mix,” the senator added.

The order — essentially a policy decision — follows the recommendation of the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC), which conducted a pre-feasibility study and public consultation on the matter.

'Reliable, cost-competitive, enrivonment-friendly'

The order recognises that nuclear power can be a reliable, cost-competitive, and environment-friendly source of energy based on the experience of highly developed countries.

“For the country to achieve its sustained growth targets, it must ensure that it has a reliable, secure, sustainable, quality and affordable electricity supply, including sufficient reserve to guarantee that there will be no disruptions in the power supply,” the policy read.

The order stated that use of nuclear energy will address the increasing demand for clean energy, rising by 4.4% annually — or an additional capacity of 68 gigawatts by 2040.

The EO included the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in the national nuclear program, but other nuclear power installations will be pursued.

Alternative power source

Nuclear power will be “a viable alternative baseload power source along with alternative energy resources, to address the projected decline of coal-fired power plants which come under increasing environmental opposition,” according to the EO.

The government will take into consideration the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Guidelines on Building a National Position for a Nuclear Power Program — which factor in components such as national policy development, energy analysis and planning, pre-feasibility study, and the engagement of the public and relevant stakeholders.

Rehabilitating the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

Under the order, the NEP-IAC will study and make recommendations on the use of the BNPP — as well as the establishment of smaller nuclear facilities.

The Department of Energy is tasked to oversee the development and implementation of the Philippine Energy Plan. Erquiza Jr. said Thursday the order could open the way to reviving the Bataan facility.

Rehab for $2.3 billion nuclear power plant

The plant, located in the town of Morong, was built starting 1976 at a cost of $2.3 billion during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos.

It was never opened because of safety concerns following the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident in the US on March 28, 1979 — which stalled the construction — and the disaster in Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986.

Erquiza said the DoE has received feasibility studies from South Korea's state-run energy firm, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., and Russia.

“They told us that it could still be rehabilitated,” Erquiza said, adding there is a budget for the plant's rehabilitation from the National Power Corp. (NPC)

“There’s an option if we consider it. That’s why under the EO 164, you will see that the NEP-IAC will make a recommendation on what to do on the BNPP,” Erquiza said.

Small modular reactors

Another option the DoE is considering is the building of small modular reactors or SMRs proposed by Russia and South Korea.

The SMRs have a capacity range of 10 MW to 300 MW that can be transported and used to stabilise electricity supply in island provinces.

Erquiza said the project of such scale could be funded and operated by the government since the National Power Corp. still has the mandate to put up nuclear power projects.

“We have to put all infrastructure concerns into law. Then this will be regulated by a body, maybe by a commission on regulatory body, to see to it that everything is safe and all the safeguard and security aspects are duly monitored, required and implemented," he said.