MANILA – The Department of Energy (DOE) anticipates an executive order (EO) to be issued by the Office of the President on the possible use of nuclear power for the country’s energy security.
“We heard from the Office of the President that the policy is going to be approved soon. It’s an executive order,” DOE Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. told reporters in a press conference Wednesday.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed EO 116 in 2020, establishing the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC), which is composed of 17 agencies exploring the possibilities of nuclear power in the Philippines.
The results of the inter-agency committee have been forwarded to the Chief Executive.
In the past years, partnerships with other countries on feasibility studies have also been made.
One of these collaborations is with Russia, as the Philippines and Russia have agreed on a general framework on energy cooperation, which includes nuclear.
Erguiza stated that Russia’s current situation has had no impact on their partnership in studying the possibilities of nuclear power.
“We don’t see any problem with Russia in that connection,” he said.
The Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) conducted a pre-feasibility study on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) as a result of the collaboration, and discovered that it is still feasible to operate the facility.
According to ROSATOM, it will cost between USD3 billion and USD4 billion to repair and start the operation of BNPP.
The DOE and ROSATOM signed a memorandum of intent in 2019 to conduct a pre-feasibility study on small modular reactor technology.
Apart from Russia, Erguiza stated that the Philippines has collaborated with South Korea and the United States to investigate the country’s nuclear potential.
