Kepco: Nuclear plant repair job to cost $1b

Korea Electric Power Corp. has estimated the rehabilitation cost of the mothballed 600-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong, Bataan at around $1 billion, a government official said Monday.

National Power Corp. president Froilan Tampinco said Kepco had submitted a financial plan placing the rehabilitation cost for the government at $1 billion.

Tampinco said a technical committee of Napocor would review Kepco’s report and estimates.

“We are currently evaluating it prior to submission to the Napocor board,” he said.

“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,” Tampinco said.

Kepco submitted its report to Napocor last year recommending the rehabilitation and revival of the nuclear power plant following the completion of a feasibility study.

Kepco and Napocor signed an agreement in late 2008 that covers an exchange of data and related activities to determine the feasibility of the possible rehabilitation of Bataan Nuclear.

“The bottom line recommendation is saying that it is possible to rehabilitate the plant but my key question to them is, what would be the cost? They did not give us the cost,” Tampinco said in December.

He said the Napocor board would not pursue the revival of the plant if the cost was higher than building a new one.

“We might as well buy a new one,” Tampinco said.

He said Napocor would obtain the mandate to operate the nuclear plant once the pending law on nuclear power development was passed.

Tampinco also said that Napocor would focus on nuclear power development as one of its main strategic thrusts this year.

“We have to be prepared for this eventuality because nuclear energy is a very big and complicated industry to pursue, if and when the government decides to pursue it,” Tampinco said. –Alena Mae S. Flores, Manila Standard Today