Not yet time for nuke power?

Cusi said Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom will come up with a framework for conducting a feasibility study on small modular reactors ranging about 50 megawatts to 100 MW each.

With the inquiry he called yet to start, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday jumped the gun on the Department of Energy’s (DoE) Nuclear Energy Program Implementation Organization, noting that the Philippines is “not yet ready” for the department’s proposal to build a nuclear power plant.

While he commended the DoE’s active exploration to find a viable energy source, Gatchalian said the development of the national nuclear power plant program is a “risky and controversial” venture that can potentially pose irreparable harm on the environment

“We are not ready in terms of safeguard, legal framework, knowledge, management and disaster response. So, we need to really think and study this carefully,” Gatchalian said.

“This (nuclear power plant) has more questions than answers. It has many controversies and risks and it’s not that environmentally-sound,” the senator added, noting that the DoE should also take into consideration the project’s economic, social and technical effects as well as its requirements.

“Nuclear leakage is worse than earthquakes because it can go beyond generations. For instance, Chernobyl still has radioactive material even until now,” he underscored.

A research and policy organization, Environmental Progress (EP), however, emphasized that the use of nuclear energy to produce electricity and reduce the country’s reliance on coal, considered as the dirtiest among the fossil fuels, is the right direction to take.

In a recent interview with Daily Tribune, EP founder and president Michael Shellenberger, an award-winning environmentalist, debunked myths on the safety of nuclear plants, particularly their waste products, pointing out that unlike other methods of producing electricity, “nuclear power is the only way that safely manages and pays for its waste.”

“Nuclear energy offers the ability to store many years of fuel, thus providing economic and physical security of supply,” Shellenberger, a policy expert voted by Time Magazine as Hero of the Environment, said.

“So, why are we still afraid of it?” he asked. “I think it has to do with our association… it’s the same word — nuclear power, nuclear weapons — so we get confused.”

Shellenberger also said present technologies available have erased the issues about the safety of nuclear reactors unlike before, especially in the 1980s and the 1990s.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy, recommended that before it pushes through with its proposed nuclear plant, the DoE should conduct a public consultation.

Moreover, the senator proposed that the government should be the sole operator and owner of the plant to avoid possible national security issues.

“In a deregulated market, who will own the nuclear plant? This is too risky because this may, later on, pose a national security issue. That’s why President (Rodrigo Duterte) also needs to understand the risks and complications of nuclear power energy before he approves anything. The President needs to be briefed by experts,” Gatchalian explained.

In the Proposed Senate Resolution 162, Gatchalian explained that the nuclear power plant has three phases.

Each phase is marked by a milestone and the completion of 19 infrastructure requirements that need specific actions as indicated in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Milestones in the Development of a National Infrastructure for Nuclear Power.

“The Philippines is currently completing Phase One, which commenced when the DoE issued Department Order 2016-10-0013 last 2016, creating a body called the Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization, which is tasked with exploring the development and inclusion of nuclear energy in the country’s electric power supply,” the resolution reads.

Phase Two signals the preparation for the contracting and construction of a nuclear power plan after the policy decision is made. It will be marked by an invitation to bid or negotiate a contract for the power plant.

“Meanwhile, Phase Three lays out the activities needed to implement the first nuclear power plant, commenced by the commissioning and operation of such activities,” it added.

In February last year, IAEA officials visited the country to discuss with the DoE and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) regarding the development of nuclear power as part of the country’s power mix.

The officials visited the country again last December for an eight-day Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) where they assessed the country’s readiness to adopt nuclear power.

The INIR Mission Report was created afterward where it proposed specific recommendations and suggestions, as well as identified good practices of the Philippine government, in the introduction of nuclear power in the country.

Gatchalian’s request to probe the nuclear plant proposal came after the DoE signed a memorandum of agreement with the Russian government “to jointly explore the prospects of cooperation in the construction of nuclear power plants in the Philippines.”

The agreement was signed during the President’s latest visit to Moscow, Russia.

Gatchalian disclosed that the hearing will “start in two weeks.”

In a recent exclusive interview with Daily Tribune, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi clarified that it was Russia which proposed to build a floating nuclear power plant in the country.

Cusi said Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom will come up with a framework for conducting a feasibility study on small modular reactors (SMR) ranging about 50 megawatts (MW) to 100 MW each.

An SMR plant with a capacity of 200 MW and a lifeline of 60 years could cost about $700 million, he added. To ensure stability in the regions, the country could require up to 1,200 MW of such.

Considering all the legal and regulatory framework requirements for nuclear use, the Energy chief projected that the actual plant may come in around 2030.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan 2016-2030, the government is pushing towards a “responsive and dynamic” energy mix to support the growing industrialization and expected an increase in energy demand.