Nuclear science chief pushes BNPP rehab, small plants

MANILA, Philippines — The government could simultaneously pursue efforts to rehabilitate and commission the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) while also developing plans to build new small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power plants that are easier and faster to put up, the country’s nuclear science chief said.

Carlo Arcilla, director of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), noted that the inclusion of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix should not be limited to the rehabilitation and commissioning of the BNPP.

At a nuclear energy forum organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology, he said the development of SMR was an exciting possibility as these nuclear power plants appear to be ideal for the country, it being an archipelago with many islands off grid.

He pointed out that the BNPP is just a 620-megawatt plant, while the Philippines is seeing a need to prepare for a power demand of more than 10,000 megawatts in a few years.

Arcilla said the DOST, working closely with the Department of Energy (DOE), could move the ball forward fast if president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will order an all-out push for the adoption of nuclear energy in the Philippines.

The nuclear science chief told The STAR that he was giving a workable, “optimistic” timeframe of five years for the full rehabilitation and commissioning of the BNPP.

He said the next DOE secretary can negotiate with South Korean power firm KEPCO and its subsidiary Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, to get an updated feasibility study on the rehabilitation of the BNPP and determine the mode of contract for the project.