Bataan nuclear power plant safe for operation, says scientist

A Filipino scientist yesterday pushed for the operation of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) to cushion the impact of a possible energy crisis in the country due to the continuing increase of world crude prices.

Former director of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) Dr. Carlito Aleta said the $2.3-billion power plant is “safely operable,” adding its activation “can jumpstart the nuclear power program of the government.”

“Is the BNPP still operable safely? As a technical person, yes, providing its rehabilitation and upgrading meet regulatory requirements and current safety standards,” Aleta said during the 35th Atomic Energy Week celebration at the PNRI office in Quezon City.

Aleta said mothballing the BNPP was “an economic blunder” and “a setback for science and technology.”

In a bid to attain energy sufficiency in the country, the government has embarked on finalizing a Human Resource Development program to develop a corps of nuclear scientists and technical experts to study various aspects in nuclear power plant operations such as siting, safety and security, transport of nuclear fuel, health and environment impact, social acceptability and disposal.

The Department of Science and Technology had earlier sought the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria in assessing the BNPP, following moves to tap nuclear energy in the country.

Aleta said experts from the IAEA have been requested to do the assessment in January 2008.

Earlier, reports said the Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) has initiated talks with the Philippine government to reactivate the BNPP, which was closed in 1986 without generating one watt of electricity.

PNRI director Alumanda dela Rosa said nuclear energy comprised 16 percent of the total world energy generation.

She said based on IAEA standards, the ideal number of personnel to man a nuclear power plant is from 200 to 1,000.

The PNRI earlier said 10 sites have been identified where nuclear plants could be built.

Former energy secretary Raphael Lotilla earlier said the reported prospective nuclear power plant sites were from a 25-year development plan of the Ramos administration, which stated that nuclear power will be considered only after 2022.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes earlier said that nuclear plants could provide cheap energy for decades and lessen the country’s dependence on imported fuel.

When former President Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown in early 1986, a team of international inspectors visited the Bataan site and declared it unsafe and inoperable since it was built near major earthquake fault lines and close to dormant volcanoes.

Debt repayment on the plant became the country’s biggest single obligation.

Reports said successive governments looked at ways of converting the plant into an oil, coal or gas fired power station but found the cost too expensive.

The Philippine nuclear program started in 1958 with the creation of the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) under Republic Act 2067.

Under martial law, Marcos announced the decision to build a nuclear power plant in July 1973.

This move was in response to the 1973 oil crisis, since the Middle East oil embargo had put a heavy strain on the Philippine economy, and Marcos believed that nuclear power was the solution to meeting the country’s energy demands and decreasing dependence on imported oil.

Construction on the BNPP began in 1976 and was completed in 1984 at a cost of $2.3 billion. A Westinghouse light water reactor, it was designed to produce 621 megawatts of electricity.

Following the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States, construction on the BNPP was stopped, and a subsequent safety inquiry into the plant revealed over 4,000 defects.

It was built near major earthquake fault lines and close to the then dormant Pinatubo volcano.

President Corazon Aquino, who succeeded Marcos, decided not to operate the plant days after the Chernobyl explosion in April 1986. Among other considerations taken was the strong opposition from Bataan residents and the negative reaction of the whole nation.

The government sued Westinghouse for overpricing and bribery but the suit was ultimately rejected by a United States court.