Senator sees small nuclear reactors completed by 2028
By Alena Mae S. Flores – September 11, 2022, 7:20 pm
from manilastandard.net
The chairman of the Senate committee on energy said over the weekend he expects the completion of small nuclear reactors in the Philippines in the next four to six years.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said on the sidelines of The Future Energy Show Philippines forum that the legislative process on nuclear development would take about two years.
“And from then on, we can start building power plants. I can see the modular plants come in by 2026 or 2028, and since it’s small, it can be easily deployed,” he said.
Gatchalian said the first step in the process is to have an executive-legislative coordination meeting on what laws are needed. “It’s very technical, and Congress and Senate cannot do it alone. We need the technical experts to write it, and we also need international lawyers to participate,” he said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency defines SMRs as advanced nuclear reactors with up to 300 megawatts of capacity, or about a third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors. SMRs are smaller in size than conventional power reactors and easier to install.
“I can see that it can be deployed in one or two years. Within this term, the small ones could be used because it’s modular. Not the big ones, or over 1,000 MW because that would take ten years,” Gatchalian said.
He said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wanted to be careful about nuclear power and follow the 19 nuclear infrastructure under the IAEA Milestones Approach—a comprehensive phased method to assist countries in considering or planning their first nuclear power plant.
“He wants to number one, follow IAEA guidelines…Number two, he wants to use the latest technology, which is modular,” Gatchalian said.
He said the president acknowledges the need for laws and regulation on nuclear power. “We don’t have a regulator for nuclear, and it has to be independent,” Gatchalian said.
He said other concerns include the proper disposal of nuclear waste.
Gatchalian said reviving the mothballed 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant might no longer be feasible. “It’s already over 40 years old, and there are now a lot of new technologies. In my opinion, let’s use the newer and safer modular technology,” he said.
Michael Sinocruz, officer-in-charge of the Energy Policy and Planning Bureau of the Department of Energy, earlier said that if the Philippines could come up with 19 milestones, it could then build SMRs that could be deployed in the countryside.
“We are looking at small modular reactor, so we can save time in terms of construction. So if we are going to put in place all the infrastructure requirements as mandated or as a policy of IAEA, we can put SMR in just a year or two,” he said.
