MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has signed Executive Order (EO) 164 which incorporates nuclear energy into the country’s energy mix.
EO 164 was signed by the Chief Executive on February 28 and was released on Thursday.
“This policy is the start of the national nuclear power program,” said Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. in a press conference.
According to the new policy, it stated 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”.
Following the recommendation of the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC), which completed a pre-feasibility study and public consultation on the matter, Duterte released the policy.
Based on the experience of highly developed countries, the Chief Executive has acknowledged, through EO 164, that nuclear power can be a reliable, cost-competitive, and environment-friendly source of energy.
“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.
It further said that nuclear energy will help address the rising demand for clean energy, which is expected to increase by 4.4 percent yearly by 2040, resulting in an additional capacity of 68 gigawatts.
Under the EO, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) is included in the national nuclear program, although other nuclear power installations would be pursued.
During the 1980s, the BNPP was the only nuclear power plant in the region, as the Philippines was one of the first Southeast Asian countries to embark on a nuclear energy program.
However, the project was halted due to allegations of corruption and safety concerns regarding the usage of nuclear energy.
According to the study conducted by Russia State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) in 2017, the rehabilitation of BNPP will require around USD3 billion to USD4 billion.
Meanwhile, the public is getting more open to the possibility of nuclear energy.
“(A) Public Perception Survey on Nuclear Energy in 2019 indicated that almost 79 percent of Filipinos expressed approval or acceptability of the possible use or rehabilitation of an existing nuclear power plant,” the EO said.
The same survey showed that 65 percent approved the construction of new nuclear power plants and 78 percent are open to learning more about nuclear energy.
