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The recent news on the move to reopen the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) reopens the debate on its safety, economic viability and sustainability. Scientists from the progressive group AGHAM or the Samahan ng Nagtataguyod ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Sambayanan cautioned solons and policy makers that these questions have to be clearly answered before making any decision on the rehabilitation of the decades-old plant.

“While the effort of the proponents and the government to reopen the plant seems to be in full steam, reopening the Bataan nuclear power plant should take into account the economic, technical and social aspects of the plant’s operation,” cautioned Dr. Giovanni Tapang, AGHAM National Chairperson.

“Even before considering using the plant, every pipe, every component, equipment or system has to be inspected by a competent independent team. Leaving the preliminary inspection to interested parties such as KEPCO is questionable”, added Dr. Tapang. KEPCO operates a similar plant in South Korea and is interested in operating the BNPP.

According to news reports, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has cautioned the Philippines not to let “commercial interests take precedence over safety issues” when considering the revival of nuclear energy options.

“The nuclear plant is being proposed as part of the plan to address a looming energy shortage as well as to reduce electricity prices. We wonder why Congress and the Arroyo government can mull over providing funds to reopen the plant and yet continue to push for the sale of other power plants under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA)?,” asked Dr. Tapang.

“Even the reality of the plant being a solution to address climate change is being put into question by some experts since the nuclear fuel to be used in the plant has used embedded carbon in its processing,” added the AGHAM chairperson.

“Instead of looking at nuclear power to provide cheap energy, President Arroyo only has to realize that most of the energy resources she has auctioned could have provided the Philippines cheap and renewable energy,” said Dr. Tapang.

“The Philippines has many available energy resources from hydropower, geothermal, natural gas, wind and solar sources but these have been all put to sale by the government to private independent power producers (IPPs). Is the government now going to run the BNPP only to ask foreign operators to take over it?,” asked Dr. Tapang.

“Proposed revisions to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to accelerate privatization leads us to expect more of the same in power rates: ever increasing pass-on rates from the embedded purchased power adjustments (PPA) and currency adjustments that has driven the prices of power to more than 10 pesos per kilowatt hour”, pointed out Dr. Tapang, who is also convenor of POWER or People Opposed to Warrantless Electricity Rates.

“If government was really serious in lowering electricity rates, it could have done away with the value-added tax, rescinded onerous PPA contract and scrap the EPIRA. If it was serious about addressing electricity supply then it should have provided funds to rehabilitate existing power plants and built new ones without depending on foreign investors to do it for us,” said Dr. Tapang.

“Finally, government must deal with the genuine concerns of the community surrounding the Bataan nuclear plant as well as the general public. As nuclear power is not without any risk, there should be a serious evaluation as to the sustainability of operating the BNPP: how the economic, technical and social factors add up and whether this will be of genuine benefit to the people,” said Dr. Tapang.

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