EDITORIAL - Reckless endangerment

Before some well-funded lobbies get policy-makers to revive Ferdinand Marcos’ nuclear program, environment groups and perhaps Secretary Gina Lopez should step in.

Japan has not yet fully recovered from the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima following the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011 and left nearly 16,000 people dead with thousands still missing. To this day a 20-kilometer exclusion zone remains around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The reactor meltdown released an estimated 45 metric tons of radioactive water into the ocean.

Like the Philippines, Japan lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, but the Japanese have confidence in their scientific and technical capability to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes. Still, high-tech Japan did not stand a chance against an earthquake that reportedly had the power of 8,000 atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima. High-tech Germany shut down its nuclear plants following the Fukushima disaster.

In contrast, the Philippines, apart from being low-tech, has an abundance of officials who tend to taint every project with corruption, forcing contractors to cut corners and deliver poor quality goods and services. We can’t even build roads that don’t melt in a downpour. Why put millions at risk from a meltdown from a poorly built nuclear power plant?

Certain individuals salivating for enormous profit have been pitching the revival of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant for many years. Never mind if the plant is built near an earthquake fault. You can bet that these individuals will be the first to evacuate at the faintest hint of impending nuclear disaster. They will live as far away from the plant as possible, make piles of money, and leave others to clean up their mess and suffer the lifelong consequences of nuclear Armageddon.

With the Philippines having the highest power rates in the region, there is a clear and urgent need for the country to improve its energy situation. Japan turned to nuclear power to ease its reliance on imported fuel. But the Philippines has natural fuel resources, including vast untapped geothermal and natural gas sources. Wind and solar power plants are also starting to boom. For affordable energy, President Duterte has promised to continue the coal projects approved by the Aquino administration. Turning to nuclear power whose safety cannot be guaranteed is reckless public endangerment.