DOF supports Bataan nuclear power plant revival

By Chino S. Leyco | Published October 28, 2018, 10:00 PM

The Department of Finance (DOF) is supporting the proposed revival of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) to bring down the high costs of electricity in the country.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that he is encouraging the Department of Energy (DOE) to “really study” the possible revival of the 620-megawatt nuclear power plant in central Luzon.

“I want to encourage Mr. Cusi to really study it [the revival] well and we will support him as much as we can if it’s safe and if it makes economic sense,” Dominguez told reporters in a recent nuclear power plant interview with Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi.

Dominguez believes there is also the technology that will ensure the safety of the people and the area where the nuke plant is located.

“You know we have to have all the safety measures — a dam,” Dominguez said. “But that is something that we should consider if we want to bring down power rates. It might be a good investment, it’s already there, 600 megawatts.”

He also said that the government had already fully paid the multi-billion debt incurred during the construction of the nuclear plant built under the administration of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Reports placed the annual maintenance cost of the mothballed power plant at P27 million. In February, Cusi said that it would cost $2 billion to bring the nuclear plant to operational stream.

But Cusi also admitted that while the power plant can still be brought on commercial stream, the cost as well as social acceptance shall be among the government’s major hurdles.

The Philippines should have been way ahead on its nuclear power ambitions, but when the Bataan nuclear power plant was mothballed in the 1980s, that energy plan turned into shambles. The prospect of repowering the controversial power plant is part of the designed policy of the DOE as part of the country’s eventual energy mix.

Safety issues have been one of the top concerns of the public in general ever since the Bataan nuclear plant was mothballed in the 1980’s.

But supporters of the revival of the nuke plant already allayed fears that such power facilities pose health hazards saying new developments in technology have made it safer and cleaner.

Source: https://business.mb.com.ph/2018/10/28/dof-supports-bataan-nuclear-power-plant-revival/