PRESS RELEASE
The Philippines Will Finally Go Nuclear
Dec. 20, 2017 (EIRNS)—The Department of Energy of the Philippines announced in a recent statement that it is now affirmatively taking "the option of adopting nuclear energy." The Philippines DOE has been getting help from Rosatom, which is doing a feasibility study on resurrecting the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, and on introducing more modern nuclear technology as an option. The completed Bataan nuclear plant was mothballed more than 30 years ago, when Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown in a coup. Philippines Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos said that "the inclusion of nuclear energy as a potential long-term option will further diversify the nation’s generation mix."
The DOE has been holding technical workshops, with help from Rosatom. Last week’s workshop, the Manilla Bulletin reports, addressed new and emerging technologies, and policy issues for nuclear power. There has also been an "exchange of views" on institutionalizing centers of nuclear science and technologies, and the advance of nuclear science in medical applications.
On Dec. 11, a workshop was held in Manila with the participation of a broad array of scientific institutions, including the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, the Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, and also the Committee on Energy of the House of Representatives.
Topics of discussion included the full range of building, operating, and maintaining a nuclear plant, and introduced Russia’s Small Modular Reactor concept, along with its full-sized VVER-1200.
