Nuclear expert says RP should tap nuclear energy

An expert on nuclear power said that the country should open itself up to the technology lest it be left out by competition from its neighbors.

In a briefing, Ian McKinley, head of McKinley Consulting of Switzerland, said that the country should tap nuclear energy in the same way as other countries in the region have embraced the technology.

McKinley Consulting specializes in radioactive or other toxic wastes.

“If you look at your neighbors, they are actively looking at long-term planning on how they can assure that energy is available. If you are to compete commercially with your neighbors, then I think that you have no choice,” he said.

“And I think that what you should look at are countries like Japan and Korea [as] they plan their electricity generation until the end of the century,” Mc­Kinley added.

He said that in the Asean region, Malaysia and Vietnam are currently mulling the establishment of their own nuclear power plants. China, Japan and Korea, on the other hand, are looking at expanding their nuclear portfolio.

“Basically, I think you cannot avoid nuclear. I think that all countries in East Asia will go nuclear. It’s only a matter of time,” the nuclear expert said.

“You look at the growth of population in the region, the increasing demand, the change in lifestyle. Considering that oil is running out, gas is running out, and when the population peak, I think there is no alternative,” he said.

However, McKinley said the country should also leave other options open for all energy sources in order to have a flexible and balanced power program.

The government is currently banking on coal-fired power plants as a “bridge” power source to secure the country’s short- to medium-term electricity needs until renewable energy projects such as wind, hydro, solar and biomass power plants kick in.

To spur this “green” power projects, government earlier passed the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which provides fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to investors.

But while the Department of Energy has publicly expressed its support to renewable energy—which it sees as the country’s electricity source for the future—it has left its doors open to the possible re-introduction of nuclear power in the country.

Nuclear power plants provide relatively cheaper electricity compared with other renewable and conventional sources of power.

But the cost of putting up such plants and public safety concerns have been major obstacles for the country to continue its nuclear program.

McKinley said that the government could consider re-opening the Bataan plant, which is similar to nuclear plants in Korea, so long as safety measures are put in place.

“I think it would be possible to bring the plant up to seismic safety. As long as the plant is not sitting in an active fault, then I think it could operate safely,” he added.

It would recalled that the Bataan plant, the country’s lone nuclear facility, was an exercise in futility after extreme opposition from various environmental and cause-oriented groups led to its mothballing in 1986 even before it can generate a single watt of electricity.

The government had spent about $2.1 billion for the construction of the Bataan plant and is still setting aside up about P40 million a year for its maintenance. –Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Manila Times