President Duterte has signed an executive order that would establish a nuclear energy program for the Philippines which aims to support the country's growing power demands.

Under Executive Order No. 164 dated Feb. 28, Duterte cited the experience of highly developed countries which shows that nuclear power can be a "reliable, cost-competitive, and environment-friendly energy source."

The EO, a copy of which was released to reporters Thursday, March 3, outlined the national government's position for a nuclear energy program, taking into account economic, political, social, and environmental objectives.

"For the country to achieve its sustained growth targets, it must ensure that it has a reliable, secure, sustainable, quality, affordable electricity supply, including sufficient reserve to guarantee that there will be no disruptions in the power supply," the order states.

The EO added that nuclear power shall be tapped as a "viable alternative baseload power source" along with alternative energy resources, as the government looks to reduce dependency on coal-fired power plants amid increasing environmental concerns.

According to the EO, nuclear power was also envisioned as a viable component to bridge the gap between rising energy demands and supply, taking into account learnings from the past, national, social and economic development pathways, as well as international legal and regulatory frameworks, and best practices.

The program would harness potential driving effects of nuclear energy on economic growth via increased productivity and dynamic spillover effects on related industries.

For the environmental objective, the EO says that venturing into nuclear technology could help minimize possible trade-offs between emissions and the environment.

"Life cycle emissions from nuclear power chains are comparable with the best renewable energy chains and several orders of magnitude lower than fossil fuel chains."

"Nuclear power can contribute effectively to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, and has strong potential to decarbonize the power sector," it adds.

The EO also mandates the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and implement the Nuclear Energy Program as part of the Philippine Energy Plan, and coordinate with and assist the NEP-IAC in the performance of its functions.

Meanwhile, the Nuclear Energy Program-Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC), which was formed in 2020, was likewise directed to conduct further studies and make recommendations on the use and viability of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) and the establishment of other facilities for the utilization of nuclear energy.

The $2.3-billion BNPP located in Morong, Bataan was completed in the 1980s during the term of late President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

The BNPP, which has been mothballed since 1986, has the capacity to generate 623 megawatts of electricity.