Aquino open to nuke plant option

President-elect Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd is “open to nuclear power” as an alternative energy resource to plug the country’s energy crisis, his second cousin Rep. Mark Cojuangco of Pangasinan told The Manila Times on Wednesday.

Reacting on former US Vice President Al Gore’s stance on the Philippine government’s plan to either revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) or acquire two nuclear power plants from South Korea, Cojuangco said that Gore’s apparent misgivings about venturing into nuclear plants were “taken out of context.”

Gore reportedly said after his one day visit to Manila on Tuesday that although nuclear energy may be one alternative in combating adverse effects of climate change, he was “skeptical of its dangers as a source of nuclear proliferation.”

“We don’t want to spread nuclear weapons,” Gore said, citing studies proving that nuclear weapon proliferation is “connected to a nuclear reactor program.”

Cojuangco said Gore’s statement was “sensationalized” by the media, stressing that the Philippines could not possibly become a source of nuclear proliferation since the country has no nuclear weapon industry.

“We want to build nuclear power plants, not nuclear weapon plants,” Cojuangco said.

He added, “I feel vindicated that Al Gore, a long-time avowed anti-nuke, is forced by scientific opinion to include nuke power on his list as one of the solutions to global warming,” the congressman said.

However, the Nobel Peace laureate said that building a nuclear power plant has jumped by as much as 15 percent in the last 30 years.

The Philippines, according to Cojuangco, does not have the luxury to fail in venturing into the expensive nuclear alternative. “Thus, we are pushing for either the revival of the BNPP” or the acquisition of the two nuclear plants from South Korea, he said.

These two nuclear plants on the auction block have a total power generating capacity of over 2,000 megawatts, or just a few hundred megawatts off the entire demand in the Visayas and Mindanao combined.

Cojuangco said that he had consulted president-elect Aquino on the nuclear option.

“He was receptive and open to the idea, provided, however, that there would be a public debate and consultation in order to know the clamor of Filipinos,” he added.

Cojuangco said the Philippines should be given the opportunity to tap nuclear energy since there are success stories about its economic benefits that it has brought to South Korea and France.

“President Aquino may have to fast-track this [nuclear option] since it would take eight years to build a brand-new nuclear power plant.”

The new president will serve a six-year term, from June 2010 to 2016.

Cojuanco said that the revival of the BNPP should be seriously considered since it would take only three years to rehabilitate it.

“I know he [Aquino] is somehow emotional about the BNPP, but it would be costly for the entire Philippines if he would not [let go of] that emotion because it would lead to the Philippines’ economic detriment.”

The Bataan plant was built during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, a bitter political enemy of the Aquinos.

The Philippines has the highest electricity rate in Asia next to Japan.

Cojuangco said that inaction by the next administration on exploring alternative sources of energy spelled a massive power crisis that would make the Philippines the most expensive place for business in the region.

He disclosed during a telephone interview that he is going to Seoul before the month ends to personally represent the Philippine government in talks on possible acquisition of the two nuclear plants being auctioned off by South Korea. –KATRINA MENNEN A. VALDEZ Reporter, Manila Times