Nuclear power? Not now.

Written by Ivy Mae T. Idos

Published May 23, 2022

On May 23, presumptive president Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. told the media that he discussed the possibility of reviving the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) with the Ambassador of South Korea Kim Inchul. “We will study their recommendations and findings,” Marcos said.

However, Filipinos must understand: this revival can be risky due to its location, estimated cost, outdated structure and the risks of handling nuclear waste.

Earlier, on February 28, incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 164 which approved the use of nuclear energy in the country and seeked to assess the viability of reviving the BNPP which was abandoned in 1986 after Marcos Sr. was ousted and the Chernobyl nuclear accident sparked concerns over the BNPP.

Yet, reviving this nearly 40-year-old facility can be difficult and can cost the country a fortune.

It is “absolutely outdated” and is not built on today’s international safety standards, according to former Russian ambassador Igor Khovaev in 2016.

Mauro Marcelo Jr. of National Power Corporation (NPC) also said that rehabilitation could cost from $1 billion to $3 billion.

Reviving the poorly-designed BNPP could also spell disaster as it is located in an area vulnerable to seismic activity. It is situated near the active Iba Fault, the active Mt. Pinatubo, the potentially active Mariveles volcano, and Mt. Natib volcano which sits on the active Lubao Fault.

The 1979 report of the Commission on the Safety of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant revealed the plant is potentially unsafe. “It is an old design—plagued with unresolved safety issues…,” the report states in its summation. “It is a potential hazard to the health and safety of the public.”

In 2016, geologist Kelvin Rodolfo suggested that Filipinos should learn from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster which happened because basic safety requirements were not put in place. He asked: “If the Japanese, with their much more developed culture of safety, can fail so badly, what does this bode for the Philippines?”

Furthermore, the lack of a proper permanent repository for nuclear waste is also a problem. These “must be of salt or granite formation that are self-sealing in the event of an earthquake,” according to the 1979 report.

Considering that the Philippines is located within the earthquake-prone Pacific Ring of Fire, it is not the safest place to store nuclear waste. Managing can be risky and expensive.

The EcoWaste Coalition said in 2016 that the country is unable to manage and dispose of nuclear waste, and there are still no clearly identified nuclear repositories within the country. Even the United States (US) has trouble disposing of nuclear waste, according to renewable energy advocate Rene Pineda.

Keep in mind that the US has 80 repositories, multiple agencies dealing with nuclear wastes, and regulatory agreements for proper disposal. They have everything planned from safety training for those who produce and handle nuclear materials to transportation, storage and disposal sites.

And yet, there is Hanford, the worst nuclear-waste dump in the US, leaking radioactive pollutants into the environment. This has affected the wildlife and locals in the area, causing respiratory, cognitive problems and cancer to name a few. The estimated cost of the Hanford cleanup, as of February 2022, is $340 billion to $600 billion and is estimated to be done around 2078.

Again, if the US, a country with more assets and experience dealing with nuclear waste, still has trouble with it, how much trouble would it spell for the Philippines?

Reviving the BNPP could be a good idea to generate cheap and reliable power, but the risks are hard to deny—especially the risks of handling nuclear waste.

Before considering going nuclear, Filipinos must first ensure the safety of the BNPP’s old faulty design and establish basic safety requirements. Filipinos must properly assess risks, establish measures to contain collateral damage, and form appropriate evacuation plans.

Filipinos must also find a way to efficiently dispose of nuclear wastes—without harming the environment or people. Until then, to reiterate Pineda’s statement,“It’s better to keep the BNPP idle rather than to create a highly toxic problem that our country cannot handle.”