13 Jul (NucNet): The new president of the Philippines Benigno Aquino says he is not keen on reviving an abandoned nuclear power plant project in the country, but welcomes the possibility of tapping nuclear energy as a power source.
Mr Aquino, who took office last month following elections on 10 May 2010, said yesterday that the cost involved in restarting the Bataan nuclear plant project, about 100 kilometres northwest of the capital Manila, would be prohibitive.
But he said he was awaiting a report from his energy minister on the possibility of new nuclear build in the southeast Asian nation.
The pressurised water reactor at Bataan was completed over 20 years ago but has never operated.
Work on the unit, the only one in the Philippines, was halted in 1985 when a number of contractual disputes arose between the Philippine government and the US company in charge of the project.
In 2008 the International Atomic Energy Agency sent a team of experts to the Bataan plant to evaluate the state of the unit.
The agency has also advised the Philippines on the general requirements for starting a nuclear power programme, stressing that the proper infrastructure, safety standards, and knowledge be implemented.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Philippines N-Plant Project Looks Set for Revival (News No. 103, 12 March 1992)
Philippines Is ‘Building Human Resources’ For Nuclear (World Nuclear Review No. 7, 15 February 2008)
IAEA Recommends ‘Thorough Evaluation’ Of Mothballed Philippines Plant (News No. 470, 13 June 2008)
