Duterte wants the people of Bataan to be consulted on the reactivation of a nuclear plant, says Roque

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered authorities to consult Bataan residents about the possible reactivation of the country’s dormant nuclear power plant located in the province north of capital Manila, Malacañang said Thursday.

Duterte, in a meeting with Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, ordered the discussions “to start from scratch,” said presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

“The people of Bataan will be asked what they really want. The decision cannot come from above,” Roque told reporters at a briefing held from that province.

(Bataan residents will be asked what they want. The decision should not come from superiors).

The Philippines spent $ 2.3 billion on the 621-megawatt Bataan nuclear power plant, but chose not to operate it after the Chernobyl disaster and the collapse of the government of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The 2011 earthquake in Japan, which caused a leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant, rekindled concerns about the safety of the Bataan facility.

To help defray the cost of maintenance, the government since 2009 has opened the plant to tourists for a fee.

Harnessing nuclear power requires a high initial investment, but lower fuel costs that can lower electricity costs, Carlo Arcilla, director of the Philippine Institute for Nuclear Research, previously said.

Philippine electricity rates, which are not subsidized by the state, were ranked as the 16 most expensive of the 44 countries surveyed in a 2016 study commissioned by energy retailer Manila Electric Co. Japan topped the list.

Nuclear reactor builders Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Ltd and Russia’s Rosatom submitted plans in 2017 to rehabilitate the Bataan plant, at costs ranging from $ 1 billion to more than $ 3 billion, said engineer Mauro Marcelo, who once oversaw the maintenance and preservation of the plant.

Other companies that have expressed interest include China’s leading nuclear power plant builder China Nuclear Engineering and Construction and Belgium’s Tractebel, Marcelo said.

Rehabilitating the Bataan plant would be the shortest nuclear route for the Philippines, taking about five years in total, compared to a decade for a new plant, Marcelo said.

“In my opinion, nuclear policy can be issued during Duterte’s term,” Marcelo had said. “But to get the Bataan plant up and running, I think there is still a long way to go.”

Duterte has said that safety will be his main consideration when deciding whether the country will pursue nuclear power.

– With a Reuters report