A second look at a 'nuclear-powered' Philippines

A second look at a 'nuclear-powered' Philippines

One only needs to stay in a remote village to feel the sorry state of the
country's rural electrification program today. There, you would see houses
with no electricity to illuminate their evenings or electric fans to cool
families on hot days.

In some progressive municipalities in Mindanao, there's a lack of
electricity supply such that electricity suppliers or power distribution
utilities limit electric daily supply to a specific number of hours. Where
electricity is available 24/7, it is at costly rates unaffordable to poor
households, and so rural folks resort instead to candles or gas lamps for
lighting, and to batteries for radio.

It's already the 21st century and the country still scrambles for backup
power supply whenever power plants shut down for maintenance. Our country
now generates its power supply from various sources, still they are not
enough to keep up with the demand of robust economic development and steady
population growth.

Existing energy sources should be expanded and new sources should be tapped
to power new businesses and factories, more homes and more electric trains.

The country actually missed attaining energy self-sufficiency and wasted
$2.3 billion because it opted to mothball the completed Bataan Nuclear Power
Plant (BNPP) 40 years ago. Had we resorted to nuclear energy in the past
four decades, our progress and development would now be at par with those
countries using nuclear energy like the United States, Canada, United
Kingdom, France and Germany.

The BNPP is still there, offering alternative energy to help meet the demand
of businesses and manufacturing facilities. It's good to know that we have
an open-minded energy secretary in the person of Alfonso Cusi, who knows the
great potential of the BNPP in terms of increasing power production and
reducing electricity rates, one of the goals of the Duterte administration.

More than any other reason, the BNPP was mothballed because of politics. As
to safety concerns, the BNPP is just like non-nuclear power plants that can
be operated properly so as not to harm public health. There have been
nuclear plant accidents in the United States, Japan and the former Soviet
Union with deadly consequences, but the economic benefits of the plants have
outlived their tragedies. Nuclear fallouts and radioactive leaks are the
price of progress that nuclear countries have accepted, learned from and
prepared for.

More than ever, the BNPP is worth a try. With its promise of stable power
supply, local cities can support more businesses, which would generate more
employment opportunities. Electricity generated by a nuclear power plant
would also be more affordable to every household.

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Ref:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/97141/a-second-look-at-a-nuclear-powered-philipp
ines

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com