Duterte urges next president to revive nuke power plant

OUTGOING PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has urged the incoming President Bongbong Marcos to revive the mothballed nuclear power plant in Bataan’s Morong town in Luzon.

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (Image: Jiru27)

Duterte said he hopes the next administration would initiate discussion on the possible use of nuclear energy to wean the country from dirty fossil fuel that harms the environment.

The country’s energy sector continues to use coal that has devastating environmental consequences, according to Duterte. “I hope we can transition to nuclear, pag-usapan na. The next administration might want to just start the ball rolling and just — maski i-discuss na because we have to educate so many people,” he said.

He said that if the country opts to adopt the use of nuclear power, it must also address the threat posed by communist insurgents to such sensitive facilities.

Aside from environmental concerns, Duterte also raised the use of nuclear power as he expressed dismay over the rising oil prices as a result of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

The conflict has influenced the stability of the global fuel prices, and it already had an impact on ordinary Filipinos and the economy.

Duterte suggested a shift to a more stable source of energy in order to have an efficient energy supply in the near future. “You know oil is not infinite, may katapusan ‘yan. Someday it will dry up. It would be good for any government to prepare the possibility of making the transition earlier from oil ‘yung fossil fuel to nuclear kasi ang nuclear is forever,” he said, adding “tutal ang nag-umpisa naman nito si Marcos noon. Nagpagawa siya ng nuclear plant.”

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was built during the time of Marcos’ father, former President Ferdinand Marcos.

The Philippine nuclear program started in 1958 with the creation of the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission under Republic Act 2067. Under a regime of martial law, Marcos in July 1973 announced the decision to build a nuclear power plant. 

A presidential committee was set up to secure funding for two 620 megawatt nuclear reactors for the energy needs of Luzon. This was in response to the 1973 oil crisis, as the Middle East oil embargo had put a heavy strain on the Philippine economy, and Marcos believed nuclear power to be the solution to meeting the country's energy demands and decreasing dependence on imported oil. 

The construction of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant began in 1976. Following the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States, construction on the power plant was stopped, and a subsequent safety inquiry into the plant revealed over 4,000 defects. Among the issues raised was that it was built near a major geological fault line and close to the then dormant Mount Pinatubo.

By 1984, when the nuclear power plant was nearly complete, its cost had reached US$2.3 billion. Equipped with a Westinghouse light water reactor, it was designed to produce 621 megawatts of electricity.

But Marcos was overthrown by the People Power Revolution in February 1986. Days after the April 1986 Chernobyl disaster in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the succeeding administration of President Corazon Aquino decided not to operate the plant. Among other considerations taken were the strong opposition from Bataan residents and Philippine citizens as well as concern over the integrity of the construction.

The Philippines experienced 8-12-hour rolling blackouts and power rationing from 1989 to 1993. The government sued Westinghouse for alleged overpricing and bribery but was ultimately rejected by a United States court.

Debt repayment on the plant became the country's biggest single obligation. While successive governments have looked at several proposals to convert the plant into an oil, coal, or gas-fired power station, these options have all been deemed less economically attractive in the long term than simply constructing new power stations. (Mindanao Examiner)