DOE begins assessment of possible nuke sites

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) has started assessing potential sites across the country that can host nuclear facilities.

Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin said the agency had evaluated some areas in Bulacan, Batangas, Masbate, and Palawan.

Some locations in Bataan province would also be visited to check if they could accommodate power plants using nuclear technology.

READ: DOE developing ‘transition financing’ measures for nuclear deployment

According to her, the DOE’s sighting team was also looking at the southern part of the country, particularly on the west side, as it is not exposed to tsunami threats.

“Many of them qualify,” she told reporters recently, citing metrics such as distance from fault lines.

President Marcos wants to have the country’s first nuclear power plants up and running by 2032, with an initial capacity of 1,200 megawatts.

During his late father’s term, the government built the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

However, this never operated after construction had been completed in 1986 due to allegations of corruption and issues with safety.

Garin said that the DOE remains confident that this Marcos administration’s goal would be achieved as the country has been making “headway” in the preparatory side.

‘Notable progress’

In December, the International Atomic Energy Agency launched another assessment of the Philippines’ capacity to embrace the technology to boost its power supply, where it noted “notable progress.”

“We’re not budging from 2032. We’re calculating if it’s a small one, like an SMR (small modular reactors), four years [is the minimum] requirement. So if you say four years, 2028, we should be ready to construct, so that means we have to be prepared … to make sure that our safeguards … we’re sure that it’s going to be a safe project,” Garin said.

The government official also said energy players, including Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Aboitiz, and Prime Infra, have shown interest in this field.

Meralco chair Manuel Pangilinan said last year that Meralco may deploy nuclear power in “eight to 10 years.” INQ