The United States government has formally inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) that will strengthen "strategic civil nuclear cooperation" between the two countries amid fear of ensuing nuclear war as Ukraine and Russia, both nuclear power hosts, continued fierce fighting.

The US State Department announced that the nuclear deal was signed this week between Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins and Philippine Energy Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi was supposed to sign the MOU in the US, but he opted to stay home to attend to the oil crisis that has been tormenting broad spectrum of the Philippine economy.

The US government noted that the agreement with the Philippines will “improve our cooperation on energy security and strengthens our diplomatic and economic relationship.”

It further explained that nuclear cooperation MOUs (NCMOU) “are diplomatic mechanisms that strengthen and expand strategic ties between the United States and a partner country by providing a framework for cooperation and a mutually aligned approach to nonproliferation on civil nuclear issues and for engagement between experts from government, industry, national laboratories, and academic institutions.”

The US-PH MOU is likewise targeted toward “deepening our cooperation in nuclear energy, science and technology,” with the US government emphasizing that this “has the potential to make a significant contribution to our shared clean energy goals, agricultural development, availability of clean water, medical treatments, and more.”

“Our nuclear cooperation rests on a strong nonproliferation regime and the Philippines’ steadfast commitment to nonproliferation,” the US State department noted.

On the part of the Philippines, the DOE said that it is pursuing collaboration on feasibility study that will determine the viability of deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) in specified sites in the country.

The DOE under Cusi has been an "unapologetic defender" of nuclear power’s inclusion in the energy mix – especially for the long-term electricity needs of the country, with him justifying that the life cycle cost of nuclear will eventually prove cheaper in the pockets of Filipino consumers.

And while President Rodrigo Duterte has already issued Executive Order (EO) 164 that mandates the crafting of a "nuclear energy program", the Philippines still lacks comprehensive policy, regulation frameworks, social acceptance mechanisms as well as renewed expertise on nuclear power developments and deployments in the country.

It will be in these areas that the DOE is expecting peers from the US to help, so the Philippines could enhance its planning as well as eventual capacity and human skills reset in manning nuclear energy installations.

Given the archipelagic profile of the country, the SMRs in particular are seen as alternative power sources for off-grid as well as microgrid domains – but commercial scale technology deployment has yet to be backed up by convincing feasibility studies and regulatory tools.

Apart from SMRs, the Philippines is also eyeing to develop greenfield nuclear facilities in the future; and may further take the option of reviving the mothballed 620-megawatt Bataan nuclear power plant.