Govt nuclear policy presented to Duterte

By Alena Mae S. Flores – April 23, 2018 at 10:42 am
from manilastandard.net

The Energy Department said it submitted the proposed nuclear energy policy to Malacañang last week for the president’s approval.

“I submitted it already to the president. I submitted the papers, the policy direction for the national policy proposal for the country,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

“We are processing it [nuclear] as an alternative, as a power source,” Cusi said.

Cusi said that once it was approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, the next step would be its implementation and procurement.

“If the president approves that, then I will move forward to the next step and that is procuring. If the policy is already there, there should be implementation,” Cusi said.

Cusi also clarified the conflicting statements of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corp. and Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev on the mothballed 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

Cusi said Rosatom submitted its report to the department saying the 30-year old BNPP could still be rehabilitated but the Russian Ambassador said the facility was “absolutely outdated.”

“Rosatom said it can be rehabilitated but it would be very costly. But the objective there is not just to rehab but to find a final closure. It’s 300 hectares of property so we have to do something about it. There should be a process,” Cusi said. Alena Mae S. Flores