Philippines: DOE gets go-signal on P50-M budget for nuclear study

Philippines: DOE gets go-signal on P50-M budget for nuclear study

The Department of Energy (DOE) has secured the go-signal of Senate Committee
on Finance for P50 million allocation on its planned study that shall cement
the country's nuclear power program.

In a Senate hearing, the department explained its pressing need for said
budget so it could advance steps onward to the Philippines next plunge into
nuclear power development.

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy,
said they had seen the necessity of them giving approval of the fund
allocation; while emphasizing on expectations that the study outcome must be
comprehensive.

He noted the "system redundancies" that many countries with nuclear program
had resorted to following the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear tragedy - that
in turn had bloated capital spending for new nuclear builds; the requirement
to develop human skills and expertise on nuclear management and power
operations; and strengthening of both the policy and regulatory frameworks
underpinning a nuclear program, among others.

After a botched nuclear power program back in the 1980s, the Philippines
will effectively be re-taking 'baby steps' on building up human knowledge
and expertise on the development, risk management and operation of such
technology that could advance goals of energy security.

In a recent interview in Ljubljana, Slovenia relating to the operation of
its close to 30-year Krśko nuclear power facility, one prescriptive tone set
had been that "relying solely on the knowledge and competence of foreign
experts could come as a 'dangerous play' for countries intending to take
their foray into nuclear power in their energy mix agenda."

Dr Andrej Sistrar, director of Nuclear Safety Administration of Slovenia's
Ministry of Infrastructure, noted that engaging foreign experts for a
country still developing the prowess and mastery of its people on nuclear
power program could help, but it does not serve as the ultimate solution.

Priority in nuclear power program - more than addressing external factors on
safety and security issues - would be on building up human resource on
knowledge and technical expertise on nuclear technologies, he emphasized.

"It's difficult giving specific advice to countries intending to have
nuclear power program. But one major requirement and key would be on
ensuring that you have people with extensive knowledge and expertise, that
will be crucial on management of nuclear operations," Sistrar said.

He opined that having experts could be a starting point for a country, but
it would not be a sustainable paradigm, so training and capacity enhancement
of locally-based people would be paramount.

Sistrar cited the experience of United Arab Emirates (UAE) wherein they
imported human resource on their nuclear power facilities' operations, but
in the end, they have encountered some challenges. That then made the
country realized that it needed to produce its own set of capable people on
nuclear engineering and other facets of operations.

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Link to Original Article:
http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/08/29/doe-gets-go-signal-on-p50-m-budget-for-
nuclear-study/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com