The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute in Quezon City (Photo from the Facebook page of the PNRI)
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Wednesday kicked off the country’s initial foray into nuclear energy development through the passage of a measure creating a regulatory body tasked to ensure the protection of people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.
House Bill (HB) No. 9293, or the proposed Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act, was passed on its third and final reading on Wednesday’s plenary session with 200 lawmakers voting in the affirmative and seven against, with two abstentions.
According to Speaker Martin Romualdez, the draft measure aims to “establish a legal framework to govern and facilitate nuclear energy’s peaceful, safe, and secure uses” in the country.
He noted that a key provision of the bill is the creation of the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilATOM) which would have “sole and exclusive jurisdiction to exercise regulatory control for the peaceful, safe and secure uses of nuclear energy and radiation sources in the Philippines.”
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“This is the first step toward realizing our dream of energy security,” Romualdez pointed out, adding, “We share this bold, but promising vision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to look into nuclear energy seriously.”
HB 9293 defines nuclear or atomic energy as any form of energy released during nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, or any other nuclear transmutation.
Once created, PhilATOM would take over all regulatory functions of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute and the Radiation Regulation Division of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Device Regulation, Radiation, Health and Research.
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The PhilATOM would be mandated to assist the government in developing national policies and measures for controlling regulated activities and facilities and to issue regulations, standards, and guidelines necessary to implement the measure.
It would also be tasked to maintain a national register of radiation sources and to inspect, monitor, and assess facilities and activities to verify compliance.
The body would be further tasked to cooperate with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world’s center for cooperation in the nuclear field.
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HB 9293 also includes provisions on radioactive protection where PhilATOM is mandated to “establish a system of control over radioactive sources and devices in which such sources are incorporated to ensure that they are safely managed and securely protected during their useful lives and at the end of their useful lives, by the recommendations and guidance of the International Commission on Radiological Protection and implementation of the relevant requirements of the IAEA.”