DoE, SKorea firm eye nuke reactor

By Jordeene Sheex Lagare – June 7, 2018
from The Manila Times

THE Department of Energy (DoE) and a South Korean company are mulling over building a 100-megawatt (MW) nuclear reactor in the Philippines, the department said on Wednesday.

In a meeting on Tuesday, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Undersecretary Donato Marcos, and Assistant Secretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr., and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) President and CEO Chung Jae Hoon explored initiating a feasibility study on building a small modular reactor within the Cagayan Special Economic Zone, among other possible energy partnerships.

A nuclear reactor houses and controls sustained nuclear chain reactions. Reactors are used for generating electricity, moving aircraft carriers and submarines, producing medical isotopes for imaging and cancer treatment, and for conducting research.

SK E&C proposed to put up a coal-fired power plant; Sy Enc, wind-power generation; BKS Energy Industry, solar power generation; and SK E&S, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub.

President Rodrigo Duterte returned to the country on Tuesday with nearly $5 billion worth of investment pledges from South Korean businessmen that could translate to 50,000 jobs in the country.

During Duterte’s visit, the country bagged at least 23 business-to-business deals with a projected total value of $4.8 billion.

The President said he hoped the new investments “would be realized as actual investments and maximized to their full extent.”