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Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi delivers a speech virtually at the inaugural session of the Scientific Forum of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on September 22, 2020. (Photo courtesy of DOE)
MANILA – Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the Philippines is on the way to exploring the potentials of nuclear power as a reliable source of energy.
In his speech delivered virtually during the inaugural session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Scientific Forum on Tuesday in Vienna, Austria, Cusi said the time is right for the Philippines to embark on a comprehensive national nuclear energy program.
“For a country like the Philippines, the Covid-19 attack has revealed that power systems could be disrupted. This has underscored the urgency of achieving our sustainability and energy security goals. We at the Philippine Department of Energy have been continually advocating for the responsible development and use of all energy resources, including nuclear, under the technology-neutral policy that we have adopted, ”he said.
The DOE chief said the Philippines was one of the first Southeast Asian countries to embark on a nuclear power program with the creation of the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission in 1958, and was home to the only nuclear power plant in the region, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). , in the 1980s.
Cusi recalled that BNPP was suspended due to unfounded allegations of corruption and widespread security concerns at the nuclear power facility.
He also expressed regret that the country was unable to seize the opportunity to harness nuclear energy at the time.
“I firmly believe that the economic outlook for our country would be very different if we had harnessed nuclear power back then. Instead, our economic development was stunted, while our regional neighbors, who had boldly ventured into nuclear power, had transformed into economic powerhouses, ”Cusi said.
But the Philippines now has the opportunity to “rewrite its nuclear journey” after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the creation of an inter-institutional committee to study the feasibility of introducing nuclear energy into the country’s energy mix, added the DOE chief.
Cusi said that the new Inter-institutional Committee of the Nuclear Energy Program will work in collaboration with the IAEA for the realization of the country’s nuclear energy program.
In a recent report, Fitch Solutions said that nuclear power will offer an effective solution for the Philippines to meet its growing demand for energy.
Fitch Solutions has seen energy consumption in the Philippines increase by an average of 4.6 percent between 2020 and 2029 despite short-term headwinds due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the DOE, the country’s energy requirement will reach 43,765 megawatts by 2040. (PNA)
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