China eyes nuclear cooperation with Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — China has reached out to the Philippines for a potential partnership on nuclear energy development, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

“We have received a letter from China for cooperation on nuclear,” DOE Energy Policy and Planning Bureau director Michael Sinocruz said in an interview on the sidelines of the Powertrends 2023 international business forum.

“It’s a general nuclear energy cooperation. So it could be the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), the conventional, or small modular reactors (SMR),” he said.

Sinocruz said China’s expression of interest is a result of President Marcos’ state visit to Beijing early last month.

“I think it’s a government to government (cooperation). But there has been no discussion yet as to what will be the coverage of the energy cooperation, unlike our agreement with the US,” Sinocruz said.

“Because we have a memorandum of understanding with the US, so the coverage of assistance to us is already being discussed,” he said.

Nuclear energy is among the technologies being explored by the country, but it is still considered as a long-term option for the Philippines for power generation.

Sinocruz said nuclear energy would be included in the country’s energy planning until 2050.

“So there will be several scenarios. We can include the BNPP if that still can be rehabilitated, or we can build a new one, the conventional, which is about 600 megawatts (MW) and above capacity, and a scenario wherein we can tap the small modular reactor. Currently we are doing the assessment,” Sinocruz said.

Sinocruz said 13 areas, including the BNPP, have been identified as possible sites for the conventional type, while 15 or 16 sites have been identified for SMRs.

“A criteria has been set to be able to streamline or to come up with shortlist of sites,” he said.

The DOE is eyeing to conduct within the year another perception survey on nuclear energy.

“Once we come up with a shortlist of the sites, so we’ll also conduct a survey for the specific sites. So you have a general survey for the entire country and then you need to do a survey that is specific to the site in the host community,” Sinocruz said.

The agency also intends to formulate this year a Nuclear Power Roadmap, in partnership with the private sector, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), experts, and stakeholders.

The agency said the existing Nuclear Power Roadmap would be updated to guide both the Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization and the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee in the implementation of activities to address the challenges of the nuclear energy program.

It said the current roadmap is comprised of phases, bounded by timelines, and covers both soft and hard infrastructures.

“The government shall explore the possibility of developing small-scale modular nuclear power plant or its derivatives, subject to compliance with safety standards and regulations of the IAEA,” the DOE said.