President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday (US Time) expressed his desire to complete all the legal requirements hampering the debut of electricity generation using nuclear power.

Marcos said this at a meeting with officials of American nuclear firm Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. in Washington D.C., as he lauded the Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC)’s anticipated nuclear energy investment in the Philippines.

Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla told the president that the regulatory framework had already been approved by the House of Representatives and that the liability limitation bill was currently in second reading.

The House passed House Bill 9293, also known as the “Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act,” on 22 November 2023. On 4 March 2023, the House also passed HB 9876, also known as the “Philippine Nuclear Liability Act.”

“You’re done already in the House. Okay. So, that the elements that need to be there, the provisions that need to be (included), we can do in the Senate and then there’s one of course, is the bicam down the road. So, that would be the process on the — from the government side,” Marcos said.

“And then presuming that they’re going to — we spoke about this before. We’re going to go ahead with the program, training the people who will actually operate the plant,” Marcos added.

Energy collaboration

Marcos met with USNC’s top leaders, led by CEO Francesco Venmeri, in the US to talk about how the company was doing with its promise to bring a clean and reliable energy source to the Philippines.

“We are delighted to share the progress of our ongoing collaboration with Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. since our inaugural meeting in 2023. Their investment in Micro Modular Reactors (MMRs) promises a reliable and clean energy solution for the country,” Marcos said in a Facebook post after his meeting with USNC officials.

“This initiative ensures greater energy security, reduced reliance on fossil fuels, and holds the promise of substantial economic gains for the Filipino people,” he added.

Their meeting, which was conducted on the sidelines of the US-Philippines-Japan trilateral summit, is a follow-up to the first meeting between the Chief Executive and USNC at the Blair House in May 2023. 

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at APEC in San Francisco in November 2023, and USNC then took part in the US Presidential Trade and Investment Mission on 11 March 2024.

The USNC is a world leader in nuclear technologies and services. Some of its most important projects are the Micro Modular Reactor (MMR), Fully Ceramic Micro-encapsulated nuclear fuel, and nuclear power and propulsion technologies for space research.