DOE to ramp up regulatory framework of nuclear power adoption for next admin's approval –exec

The Department of Energy (DOE) will ramp up the regulatory framework of the inclusion of nuclear energy in the country’s power mix which it hopes the next administration will adopt, a top official of the agency said on Sunday.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, DOE Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. explained that they have come up with studies to assess the safety and security of the nuclear power that is aligned with international standards.

“Meron tayong stakeholders' involvement and acceptance at nabuo na natin ‘yung framework. Ang naiwanan na lang dito, ‘yung ira-ramp up natin ‘yung regulatory framework, ‘yung batas to see to it na itong international standards ay maisabatas natin. Ayun ang hindi natapos ngayong time ni President Duterte,” he said.

(We have stakeholder involvement and acceptance and we have developed the framework for it. The only thing left is the ramping up of the regulatory framework or the law to see to it that we can legislate these international standards. That was not completed during the Duterte administration.)

“Nakikita natin na [we see that] it will depend now on the next administration’s acceptance on nuclear. Kaya nakita natin [ang] mga kandidato dito against [many candidates were against it], but we have the presumptive president who declared that he supports nuclear. We see a good ramping up of the regulatory framework,” he added.

Presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and presumptive vice president Sara Duterte have earlier vowed to hasten the country's adoption of nuclear power in a bid to lower electricity rates after President Rodrigo Duterte issued an executive order tapping nuclear power as an energy source along with other alternative energy resources.

Erguiza pointed out that once enacted into law, a Philippine Nuclear Commission will be established to regulate the utilization of nuclear energy in the country.

Duterte's Executive Order 164 states that the national "government will assess, review and develop nuclear energy plans using integrated approaches that consider both the provision of energy supplies, and the role of energy efficiency in meeting increasing demand for energy."

Marcos had already expressed intention to revisit the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which has been mothballed for more than three decades. —KG, GMA News