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PNRI exec vouches for BNPP safety, pushes for 600-meter deep waste disposal facility


The director of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute on Thursday vouched for the viability and safety of nuclear energy in the Philippines.

In an interview with Kara David on GMA News TV's "News To Go", PNRI director Dr. Carlo Arcilla, however, pointed out the need for a 600-meter deep nuclear waste disposal system on an isolated island.

Arcilla made the remarks after the Philippines signed an agreement with Russia to develop nuclear energy at the sidelines of the 12th East Asia Summit.

The five-year agreement entails the audit and assessment of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) which was completed in 1986, but was left unused due to many environmental and safety concerns.

Arcilla said the Philipipines has learned its lesson from past nuclear-related disasters such as the explosion of Japan's nuclear plant in Fukushima when the country was hit by a 8.9-magnitude earthquake in 2014.

Arcilla said the BNPP is elevated above the highest recorded tsunami level and has incorporated safety features in relation to the blast.

The BNPP's sister plants located in Korea, Brazil, and Slovenia. Arcilla has visited the nuclear plant in Krško, Slovenia and said it has worked "profitably and safely" for 40 years.

Arcilla said the Russian officials have invited the operators of the Krško plant in visiting the BNPP in its assessment.

Arcilla added that the PNRI will act as the "regulator" in making sure the BNPP is safe to operate before imposing its effects on the country.

"I will not sign on anything that's not safe... I should be able to sleep inside the nuclear powerplant several days in a month," he said. —Margaret Claire Layug/NB, GMA News

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