Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday welcomed President Duterte’s directive to the Department of Energy (DOE) to consult residents of the province of Bataan over proposals to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, said the President’s order only bolstered his belief that reviving the BNPP needs careful and serious study of the risks associated with managing nuclear power plants.

“Hindi ito simpleng teknolohiya na magkukuha tayo ng talento na makakapag-operate nito kaagad. Isa sa pinaka punto dito yung pagka-delikado nitong power station o power plant na ito (This is not a simple technology where you just get an expert to operate this plant immediately. One of the points raised about it is the danger this power station or power plant poses to residents),” Gatchalian said in an interview over GMANewsTV.

The senator expressed his views on the issue following Duterte’s reported meeting with Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi in Malacañang last Wednesday night, which Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier confirmed.

Gatchalian said the government has to consider crafting a contingency plan in case residents of Morong, Bataan, where the BNPP is situated, need to be evacuated in the event of a disastrous nuclear accident similar to what happened to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.

“Nag-evacuate sila ng almost 100,000 doon sa nakapaligid sa Fukushima, kaya kung titingnan natin ang bayan ng Morong kung saan andoon ang BNPP, 30,000 ho (ang residente) dyan. Kaya kung mayroong mangyari, buong Morong po ie-evacuate natin (They evacuated almost 100,000 residents living around Fukushima, that’s why if we look into the population of Morong where the BNPP is situated, there are around 30,000 residents there. If something happens the government has to evacuate the whole town of Morong),” he said.

The senator also pointed out there is a need to pass several laws that would govern the safe operations of the BNPP before the government pursues its opening.

“Hindi lang batas sa pago-operate ng planta kung hindi pati kung saan itatapon ang nuclear waste, paano itra-transport ang raw materials at mga batas na sisiguraduhing independent ang magbabantay nitong planta na ito dahil nga malaki ang risk o pagkadelikado (We don’t just need laws on how to operate the plant, we need to include laws on how to dispose of the nuclear wastes, how to transport the raw materials and a law that will make sure that the plant’s operation would be independent precisely due to the risks and danger involved in operating a nuclear power plant),” Gatchalian said.