BNPP design safe, fit for revival, possible use —DOST-PNRI

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant's  design is secure, and its revival and  possible utilization is safe despite BNPP's decades of being mothballed, the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) said Friday.

In an interview on Dobol B TV, DOST-PNRI Director Carlo Arcilla said that BNPP's design is similar to the nuclear plants being used in South Korea, Slovenia, and Brazil.

Arcilla said the three nuclear plants are still up and running. “Ibig sabihin, ‘yung design na ‘yan ay safe” (This means the plant’s design is safe.) 

The DOST-PNRI director added that while the BNPP is not being used, maintenance works are still being implemented.

He also reiterated the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology’s (Phivolcs) stance that the BNPP’s  site is safe as it was built on solid foundation and that nearby volcano Mount Natib is no longer active.

Arcilla welcomed the issuance of Executive Order 164, a by-product of the EO 116 issued in 2020 that directs the conduct of relevant studies for the adoption of a National Position for a Nuclear Energy Program, and constituted the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC) to oversee its preparation. 

The latest EO mandates the NEP-IAC to collate all audits and recommendations, conduct further studies and assessments and if necessary, and make recommendations on the use and viability of the BNPP and the establishment of other facilities for the utilization of nuclear energy.

Earlier, the government pegged the cost of reviving the BNPP at around $1 billion.

In 1976, then-President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the construction of the BNPP, costing as much as $2.3 billion.

However, the project was shelved after three years due to safety concerns. —LBG, GMA News