No to nuclear energy

Secretary Angelo Reyes and the House of Representatives earlier mulled on reopening the BNPP after a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency inspected the power plant and reported its possible rehabilitation.

Reyes was quoted as saying that the BNPP could be restored in at least five years for a cost of $800 million. Take note, US$800 million just to rehabilitate it. The national government says that the US2.3 billion used to build the power plant went down the drain because it never generated a single watt of electricity.

In fact, we are still paying 155,000 dollars a day in interest on the BNPP. For about 30 years, the national government is still wasting taxpayers’ money for this white elephant structure.

The energy secretary said that it is wise to revisit the option of restoring it so we could at least generate power before we experience shortage. And when it starts operating, it could possible generate income to pay the government’s standing debts incurred from its construction.

But while the national government is counting on still unhatched eggs, the issue of safety, capability and expertise is now being raised by the anti-nuclear advocates.

First point, as Reyes said, we need US$800 million fresh capital to rebuild it. Of course, we will loan it and then start paying new interest until may be forever. Second, we do not even have a research facility or a well-organized and well-trained physicists or scientists to man the BNPP. Our government is experiencing a condition called amnesia. They forgot that before they woke up and suddenly decided to reopen the BNPP issue, the national government did not prepare for this.

I would appreciate the wisdom of their proposal should a comprehensive and capability-building plan was laid down, let’s say, at least five years before today. This would signal the government’s seriousness and sincerity to operate the BNPP with the utmost safety and efficiency.

Another issue is the operational expenses of the power plant needed should it become operational. Where will the government get huge amount of money to run it in a day-to-day basis? Rebuilding it will require us US$800 million but to operate it would mean additional expense.

Also, whether we admit it or not, we have yet to train our physicists to oversee BNPP’s operations. In the meantime, we will have no choice but to hire imports from Russia or United States. And how much would these physicists’ salaries cost?

The Philippines is not yet ready to operate a nuclear power plant. It doesn;t have the money, the expertise and the capability so it is foolish to expose our people to danger.