Despite the high probability of a change in the US administration by November, the White House indicated it does not plan to slow down on supporting the Philippines’ development of nuclear energy as a viable source of power.

In an interview, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) chairman Christopher Hanson said the US remains fully committed to providing Filipino partners with the essential knowledge and expertise necessary for nuclear development.

Hanson said the US will primarily assist regulators in formulating policies and establishing a regulatory body responsible for overseeing and governing the nuclear industry.

“We are going to hold a nuclear executive workshop, which is kind of the top-level framework about how the US approaches this development and I hope this enables the Philippines to think about how they might like to pursue the development of their regulatory body,” Hanson said.

“I think we are going to see an increase in the tempo of engagement from the US on the nuclear safety aspects,” he added.

Gaining public trust

Hanson underscored the importance of establishing a robust regulatory body that can carry out safety assessments, modeling, and other essential tasks like effective communication to foster and sustain public trust considering the sensitive nature of nuclear energy.

“Nuclear power can be very politicized. People are nervous about it. It’s highly technical and so it is both the combination of that strong technical skills resident in the regulatory body, but also the communication skills,” he said.

In May, the Department of Energy (DoE) formed a Nuclear Energy Division to spearhead the local development of nuclear energy, in compliance with Executive Order 116 issued on 24 July 2022, EO 164 issued on 28 February 2022, and House Resolution 134 issued on 8 August 2023.

It will be supervised by the Energy Utilization Management Bureau, headed by Director Patrick Aquino, who will report directly to Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin.

The DoE has also started the development of the National Roadmap for Nuclear Power, which aims to create a well-structured nuclear policy that would enable seamless integration of nuclear power into the main grid by 2032.

Partners interest up

Early this month, the landmark Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (123 Agreement) between the Philippines and the United States came into force.

The 123 Agreement provides a legal framework for the US to export nuclear materials, equipment and components to other countries. It allows for the transfer of materials and information for nuclear research and civil nuclear energy production, with a shared commitment to nuclear nonproliferation.

The agreement will expand collaboration on clean energy and energy security, as well as strengthen the long-term diplomatic and economic ties between the two nations.

“You are also going to see a real uptick in the amount of commercial interest and companies coming to the Philippines and wanting to explore with the government how they might deploy nuclear power,” Hanson said.