PNRI: No power grid red or yellow alerts with nuclear energy

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) on Monday said that red or yellow alerts due to low power reserves would not happen if nuclear energy is added to the Philippines' power mix.

“If the electricity mix contains substantial nuclear, that won’t happen. Because the capacity factor of nuclear is 90%. It doesn’t depend on the weather,” PNRI Director Dr. Carlo Arcilla told reporters in an ambush interview on the sidelines of a talk on nuclear energy at the institute.

“The more you increase the percent of nuclear in the mix, the more reliable the electricity,” he added.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has been issuing red and yellow alerts with more frequency during the hot season, as power demand increases due to the heat.

A yellow alert indicates that the power grid has thin reserves, based on supply and demand, while a red alert indicates that there are zero ancillary services or that a generation deficiency exists. A red alert could trigger power interruptions.

Shutdown and safety

Asked about the possibility of a nuclear plant shutdown, Arcilla said plant maintenance is scheduled.

“The plant maintenance is scheduled. One month, every 18 months. Walang sudden breakdowns. Wala. Kasi tuloy-tuloy ‘yan. [No sudden breakdowns. None. It's continuous.] In fact, it’s very boring when you’re in a nuclear plant. Because it’s very predictable,” he said.

Arcilla said there are now 450 civilian reactors all over the world, as well as an additional seven submarines powered by nuclear energy.

Asked about safety, Arcilla replied, “There have only been two accidents known: Chernobyl, which was done because it was an experiment, an illegal experiment, and then Fukushima. In Fukushima, the plant was not destroyed by the earthquake. It was destroyed because the cooling system was put below the basement. So binaha ‘yung cooling system ng tsunami [the tsunami flooded the cooling system].”

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukrainian SSR 1986 and the Fukushima nuclear plant accident in Japan in 2011 are both classified as "major accidents" on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, resulting in "widespread health and environmental effects," including radioactive contamination, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“So all the 450 nuclear plants in the world after Fukushima did a stress test. How will you prevent a Fukushima? You put the cooling systems at a higher elevation. It makes the possibility of a nuclear accident even much much much lower.  So if you total the number of operations of nuclear plants, compared with the accidents, napakaliit talaga [it's really very small],” he added.

Arcilla also said the impact of the Chernobyl incident is not likely to happen in the Philippines.

“In Chernobyl, they don’t have a containment structure. We have here a containment structure. The containment structure is designed, if there is an accident, to contain all of the materials inside. The Soviet design didn’t have that. All the Western plants have it. Our reactor has that. It’s meant to protect,” Arcilla explained. — BM, GMA Integrated News