The Department of Energy (DOE) disclosed that China has firmed up its proposed government-to-government (G-to-G) cooperation on nuclear power technology development with the Philippines amid the extension of the Philippine Energy Plan coverage by 10 years taking into account the integration of nuclear technology in the country's power mix.
Michael O. Sinocruz, director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Policy and Planning Bureau (EPPB) told reporters on the sidelines of the Powertrends international forum Wednesday, Feb. 8, that China is “looking at general nuclear cooperation. They’re looking at parallel approach - whether we can rehabilitate the BNPP (Bataan Nuclear Power Project) and they can also do SMRs (small modular reactors).”
This was a follow-through to the initial interest sounded off during last month’s state visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in that Asian super power.
The energy official emphasized “it’s a government-to-government arrangement with DOE, but we haven’t discussed what will be the coverage of the cooperation,” adding that China’s official correspondence has just been submitted to the department recently.
In a related development, Sinocruz declared that the DOE will extend energy planning through year 2050, so it can integrate nuclear technology in the country’s future power mix that will be stretched from the current Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) coverage of 2020 to 2040.
“We’re going to include now nuclear, what would be the impact of nuclear in our mix in terms of reducing our emissions; and cost, among others,”
Apart from China, he indicated that the investors eyeing nuclear power technology installations in the country are the United States, Russia and South Korea – the latter of which had already done earlier studies on the planned BNPP repowering as well as SMR deployment, primarily at the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in Northern Luzon.
On the stretched energy planning that will factor in nuclear in the equation, Sinocruz emphasized that what’s being sorted at the DOE and collaborator-agencies are “several scenarios – we can include the BNPP if that can still be rehabilitated – or if we can build conventional plant that will be about 600 megawatts and above capacity; and a scenario wherein we can tap the small modular nuclear reactors.”
He further stated that part of the re-evaluation process will be siting of the chinanuclear projects – which is currently being worked on by an inter-agency subcommittee comprising of the DOE, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS): as well as Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), among others.
The DOE official conveyed there are at least 13 sites being surveyed and evaluated for conventional nuclear power projects, including the current location of the BNPP facility; and then 15 to 16 sites for SMRs that shall be demarcated all over the country.
“There is a sub-committee handling that -- the siting; and it already convened initially. We have identified the criteria – the geology, the climate or whether the area is frequently visited by typhoons, so we are looking at those,” Sinocruz stressed.
Beyond addressing regulatory and legal frameworks, policy tools; safety and security concerns as well as upskilling of domestic talents on operating nuclear power facilities based on parameters set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); the DOE will likewise be carrying out new round of survey to gauge wider social acceptance for nuclear as an option in the country’s future energy mix.
“We’re preparing for the budget, because we’re looking at increasing the number of respondents (to the survey),” he said, noting that the last survey pursued in 2018-2019 just covered 1,000 respondents for a budget of P8.0 million.
Sinocruz specified “there will be a general survey for the country; and then we need a survey specific to the site,” in reference to the nuclear project-locations that will eventually be identified by the government.