‘Only Bataan nuke plant could solve power woes’

In the face of the consistent failure of the Aquino administration to address the country’s electric-power problem that has spawned a host of other economic ills, notably the high prices of basic goods, a fierce advocate of the use of nuclear energy has strongly urged the activation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which was mothballed in the early 1980s over fears it might prove disastrous to the country. 

Fomer Rep. Mark Cojuangco of Pangasinan said many major technological developments have since taken place that have made nuclear-power plants safer.

Once fully operational, Cojuangco said, the BNPP is expected to slash electricity prices by half.

“Imagine, (the) BNPP can generate electricity for only between P2 and P2.50 per kilowatt hour (kWh), as compared to the ongoing average rate of P5 to P5.45 through the national grid, which is being retailed and distributed to about P10 to P12 per kWh,” Cojuangco said in a statement after attending a meeting with the National Power Corp. (Napocor) board.

One of the many complaints of would-be investors in the Philippines has been the high cost of electric power, not to mention the unreliability of power sources.

Allaying fears about the safety of nuclear plants, Cojuangco noted that the BNPP’s three sister plants that were constructed simultaneously during the 1970s—the Krsko in the former Yugoslavia, Kori 2 in South Korea and Angra 1 in Brazil—have been operating for over 20 years now and no minor or major accidents have been reported about them.

“The plant type of (the) BNPP is PWR, or pressurized water reactor, which accounts for 265 nuclear-power plants of the total 439 operating worldwide (based on the 2007 figures). Not a single death has been attributed to the operation of this type of nuclear-power plant in the last 40-plus years,” Cojuangco said.

He also cited the assurances of Director Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) about the safety of the BNPP.

The plant, which is 64 kilometers (km) south of the Iba Fault, 78 km northwest of the West Valley Fault System in Marikina City and 83 km south of the East Zambales Fault, is safe from the hazard of ground rupture of fault movement, Solidum said.

Cojuangco also noted that many nuclear plants and other nuclear facilities the world are located near geological fault lines.

“The BNPP is located on sound bedrock, and its location is as good as that of any other comparable power plant. It is beside the fault line. It doesn’t straddle the fault line. A thinking person knows the difference,” Cojuangco said.

Considering all these, he said, nuclear power remained the best choice for the country in producing affordable and abundant energy.

“Let me state that I believe it is in the country’s best interests that the BNPP be operated. It is also my belief that the nuclear-power option is still the best choice that the country can make,” he said.

“Coal and natural gas as fuels for energy production are harmful to the environment,” Cojuangco said. “On the other hand, other energy sources, such as geothermal, hydrothermal and solar-power plants are cost-ineffective, relative to nuclear-power plants.

Hence, local and international science academies and professional societies turn to nuclear technology as an alternative.”

The BNPP is capable of producing 620 megawatts of power, enough to power the islands of the Visayas, Cojuangco also said. If made to operate, the electricity production costs of the power plant would be cheaper per kilowatt hour, compared with oil-fired thermal, coal or natural gas plants, he said.

The average generating cost through nuclear power in the United States is at $0.0166, or about 73 centavos/kWh, that already factors in the cost of waste disposal.

Cojuangco said politics should be set aside, since the BNPP’s opening would benefit the economic development of all Filipinos. The reopening of the facility is timely for the Philippines to compete in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) economic integration, he said. As representative of Pangasinan in 2009, Cojuangco filed with the House of Representatives House Bill 4631 that mandated the immediate recommissioning and commercial operation of the BNPP, appropriating funds for it, and for other purposes. LUIS LEONCIO