MANILA, Philippines?If government officials only had the will, the Philippines could go nuclear and get closer to attaining its goal of energy independence, according to the head of the country?s nuclear research agency.
Toward this step, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) director Dr. Alumanda de la Rosa said the PNRI would be updating its regulations and retraining its staff in case the government goes ahead and opens the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).
?What [government officials] need to do is [assert] political will. After that, everything will follow,? De la Rosa told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview.
?We [taxpayers] have paid for it [BNPP]. It will just go to waste if we don?t give it a second look,? she said.
Last week, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago filed a bill mandating the ?immediate and commercial operation? of the BNPP, which was built during the Marcos regime but was never used. Its construction was also attended by accusations of large-scale corruption in the highest places.
Santiago said the 620 megawatts the plant can produce could power all of the Visayas.
Nuke plant rehab
De la Rosa said the National Power Corp. (Napocor), on the recommendation of the International Atomic Energy Administration (IAEA), was studying the feasibility of rehabilitating the BNPP.
?The Department of Energy asked the IAEA to assist us in deciding whether or not to rehabilitate [the BNPP] and the recommendation of the IAEA was a thorough investigation to determine the technical integrity of the structure,? she said.
De la Rosa disclosed that at least three nuclear power plants similar to the BNPP were built in other countries around the same time in 1984 and these were still ?operating safely? today.
?We know there are three nuclear plants of the same design, built at the same time as Bataan and [they] are operating safely,? she said. These are in South Korea, Brazil and Slovenia, formerly a part of Yugoslavia.
De la Rosa said some nuclear power plants in the United States older than the BNPP are also still in operation.
?In the US, some [nuclear plants] about 40 years old... have been given government approval to operate for another 20 years,? she said. ?There could have been upgrades and some parts changed through the lifetime of the plants but in terms of technology, it?s still the same.?
As for opening the BNPP, De la Rosa said the PNRI had time ?to train people? and, as a regulator, ?our training is continuous in terms of nuclear power.?
?We only have to update the regulations,? she said. ?Not that [they] are obsolete? we have to keep updated vis-ŕ-vis the IAEA-recommended standards.?
