Bataan nuclear power plant rehab needs $1B

Taxpayers would have to cough up another billion dollars to rehabilitate the mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant, according to a study commissioned by the government.

The Marcos regime spent about $2.10 billion for the construction of the power plant, with successive governments setting aside P40 million a year for its maintenance even though the facility has yet to generate a single watt of electricity.

Opposition from various environmental and cause-oriented groups led the Aquino administration to mothball the Philippines’ lone nuclear facility in 1986.

Froilan Tampinco, National Power Cor p. (Napocor) president, said that Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) has submitted its study on how much it would cost to run the facility.

“The initial estimate is $1 billion,” he said.

Napocor and Kepco earlier inked a nonbinding agreement under which the Korean company would look into whether the Bataan plant could still be run or not.

In its findings released late last year, Kepco found the plant suitable for rehabilitation. Tampinco said Napocor is evaluating the viability of running the Bataan plant based on Kepco’s findings.

“We may be able to submit and discuss the financial proposal of Kepco by March. We don’t think we will be able to calendar it for the board meeting of Napocor this month,” he said.

Tampinco earlier said the development of nuclear power anchored on the rehabilitation of the Bataan plant was one of Napocor’s major initiatives this year.

Napocor’s involvement in the facility’s rehab, however, would require legislation, he said.

“Hopefully, the legislative piece would give us added mandate to pursue the rehabilitation,” he said.

Last year, a bill was filed at the House of Representatives seeking to reactivate or rehabilitate the Bataan plant to meet the country’s growing power requirements and address the rising cost of electricity.

The government had forecast that the Luzon grid would suffer a power supply shortfall starting 2012, while the Visayas and Mindanao grids would encounter deficits as early as this year.

Based on the proposed legislation, $1 billion would be poured into the rehabilitation, with consumers picking up the tab through a P0.10 per kilowatt-hour surcharge in their electricity bills.

The Bataan plant’s cost of producing power, however, will only be around P2.50 per kilowatt-hour, or less than half Napocor’s current rates.

Despite its promise of cheaper rates, the proposal does not sit well with a number of sectors.

The nongovernment Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) earlier scored the proposal to revive the mothballed plant, saying the plan was both “ridiculous and dangerous.”

Renato Reyes Jr., Bayan secretary general, said the rehabilitation would cost the government more than if it were to simply remove the value-added tax on oil and power. –EUAN PAULO AÑONUEVO Reporter, Manila Times