DOE awaits result of Rosatom study on what to do with Bataan nuke plant

By Lenie Lectura – November 2, 2017

from Business Mirror

THE Department of Energy (DOE) eagerly awaits the result of a two-month assessment conducted by foreign experts on the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said experts, mostly composed of representatives of the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp., the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex, and Slovania’s Gen Energija, are expected to conclude by end-October their preliminary  assessment of the possibility and viability of rehabilitating  the BNPP.

There is no update yet on their assessment, Cusi said last week.

On August 30 the DOE’s Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization headed by Energy  Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos, together with representatives from the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute  and National Power Corp. (NPC) met with representatives from Russia’s Rosatom, Slovenia’s Gen Enerjia and internationally known nuclear firm Worley Parsons at the NPC Nuclear Village in Bagac, Bataan.

Seven working groups have been established to undertake the study, which started in September. The conduct of a study would take two months.

The activity will define the scope of work for the prefeasibility study for the possible rehabilitation of the BNPP.  According to the DOE, the study is being provided by Rosatom for free as part of the cooperation between the Philippines and Russia.

“There are no options presented yet, no recommendations either. We will just have to wait,” Cusi added.

If revival and rehabilitation are no longer options for the BNPP complex, then the next step that needs to be undertaken is to determine what to do with the property.

“As the authority, we have to find a closure to it. If we can’t use it anymore, then what are the options? Can it be transformed into a bomb shelter? Library? Hotel? Data center? If we are not going to operate it as a nuclear power plant, then what are we going to do with the structure? What are we going to do with the property?” he said.

The 620-megawatt (MW) BNPP is the country’s first and only attempt at nuclear-power development. It was supposed to be the first of two nuclear plants to be built in the northern province of Bataan. It was also the first nuclear power plant in Southeast Asia, and was identified as a solution to the 1973 oil crisis that had adversely affected the global economy, including the Philippines.

The project, however, was mothballed in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. But clamor for the reopening of the BNPP was revived during the power crisis in the 1990s and the skyrocketing oil prices in 2007.

During these periods, the DOE actually came close to reconsidering nuclear power as a potential energy source for the country.

But then, the Fukushima nuclear-plant incident happened in 2011, creating global panic and concerns about the safety and integrity of nuclear plants.

In March the DOE identified Sulu as among the areas being eyed for a modular nuclear power plant, with a capacity of 100 MW at most.

“We understand that there’s a lot of people already favoring nuclear. So, the DOE, as a policy-making body, is looking at what to do with it. There could be modular nuclear power source of 30 MW to 60 MW. We are also looking at other provinces where to put up a nuclear plant,” Cusi added.

Energy Undersecretary Jess P. Posadas earlier said the Philippines will need a kind of energy that will power the economic development resulting from the P8.9 trillion worth of investments in infrastructure in the next five years.

Nuclear power has the potential of meeting such huge energy demand, according to Posadas, as he noted that 1 gram of uranium is equivalent to 1.8 million cubic meters of oil and 3 million grams of coal.

“Nuclear energy would last longer than other fuels,” Posadas said. “The Philippines has always viewed nuclear energy as a long-term option for power generation that will provide supply security, stability and reliability. Should this be the path that the country will take, nuclear further diversifies our existing generation mix comprised of coal, natural gas, geothermal, hydropower, oil, wind, biomass and solar,” he said.