Bataan, two others areas eyed for nuclear power site —DOE

Bataan and two other areas are being eyed for the country’s prospective nuclear power plant, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Wednesday just days after President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said it was time to "revisit" nuclear energy as a power source.

“We're shortlisting about three areas. I just don't really want to mention yet because wala pa yung evaluation na final. But Bataan is one of those three,” DOE Secretary Sharon Garin told reporters.

In his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos said the administration is working to revisit nuclear energy, as it is already being used in medicine, agriculture, water filtration, and the upcycling of plastic.

The DOE said that it will make sure that future nuclear energy projects will be safe.

"I just want to emphasize that we will be very stringent on the implementation of this project. We have the international community watching, IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency], which is the international agency,” said Garin. “We will make sure that we are compliant because we don't want a nuclear power plant na hindi safe dito [that is not safe]. We want the most perfect we can build as a first nuclear power plant.”

But the energy department added that the country’s first working nuclear power plant may take a decade to materialize.

“Hopefully, we can have it in the next decade. Because you cannot build it by just permitting, building, and the construction. It will take time. It will be longer,” said Garin.

Despite the President’s recent call, Malacañang on Wednesday said that it will not push through with the initiative if it is deemed to endanger public safety.

In September last year, Marcos signed into law the Republic Act 12305, or the Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act, provides for the establishment of the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilATOM), a quasi-judicial body that will oversee nuclear energy regulation.

Marcos’ late father and namesake, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. initiated in the 1970s the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant but it never went into operation due to safety concerns and other issues. — BM, GMA News