The Philippines welcomes the start of civil nuclear talks with the United States, but the government is also open to dealing with other countries on tapping the energy source.

Philippine Nuclear Research Institute Director Carlo Arcilla yesterday said that America has the most extensive experience with nuclear energy as it has nearly 100 nuclear power plants operating for over 60 years now.

"We should welcome the initiative of the US to start the 123 Agreement talks," said Arcilla, who pointed out that the US has been relicensing many power plants for 20 additional years of service life.

Still, the PNRI chief said China and South Korea have taken an unmatched record in "building new nuclear power plants on time and at cost" while the US had been "left behind" in building new civil nuclear facilities.

Mothballed BNPP

"America will always be a good source but unfortunately in the past decade, they have been left behind because they have not really constructed brand new power plants," Arcilla pointed out.
"The US has stopped building power plants, that's why their nuclear facilities have aged," he added.

Arcilla conceded, however, that the US is currently developing advanced small modular reactors but it may take eight years for them to finish.

The mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was built in the 1970s by the American company Westinghouse during the administration of the father of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The BNPP was completed in the mid-1980s but it was never fueled following concerns over safety in the aftermath of the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the US and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown in Ukraine when it was still part of Soviet Russia.

France, too

France also has a good track record in running nuclear power plants, Arcilla said. "We can rely on France because of their experience in running their nuclear plants safely," the PNRI chief said.

The 123 Agreement talks were launched during the visit of US Vice President Kamala Harris to the Philippines.

Earlier, an Energy department official said that the Philippines will have to wait 10 years to see a working nuclear power plant.

"If we do it the regular way. You have to have siting, you have feasibility studies, then you have to develop the siting to make sure it's durable enough to ensure the safety of our people. I think 10 years," Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin said.