Govt reviews IAEA study on Bataan power plant
Manila Times
The Department of Energy is reviewing a study conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency about the safety and viability of reopening the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, government sources said.
The Philippine government had requested the study, according to a statement released recently by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is a United Nations agency that was established in 1957 to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.
The agency was asked to organize a multi-disciplinary and independent fact-finding mission to the Bataan plant, which was mothballed in 1986 after the collapse of the Marcos government.
The mission took place between January 28 and February 1, 2008 and was officially received by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and officials of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute.
According to a report posted on the agency’s website on June 12, “A team of experts was deployed by the IAEA in February 2008 to counsel the Philippines government on the practicalities of revitalizing the plant.”
But the Director of the Division of Nuclear Power Akira Omoto, the mission’s team leader, was quoted in the same report as saying, “It is not the IAEA’s role to state whether the plant is usable or not, or how much it will cost to rehabilitate.”
The Department of Energy has received the final mission report and is now reviewing it. The stated purpose of the mission was to help determine whether the Bataan plant could still be rehabilitated to generate power, and to find out the corresponding technical, budgetary and safety requirements needed.
Agency Deputy Director General for Nuclear Safety and Security Dr. Tomihiro Taniguchi warned the Philippines, though, saying “Commercial interests should not take precedence over safety issues in the current expansion of nuclear power worldwide.”
In Southeast Asia, those planning to establish nuclear power plants in the next few decades include Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
– Katrice R. Jalbuena
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