LONDON, England – The Philippine government is now advancing into the final stretch of negotiations for the terms and conditions of the ‘123 Agreement’ that will be signed with the United States for nuclear cooperation, according to Energy Undersecretary Sharon S. Garin.

In an interview on the sidelines of the World Nuclear Symposium 2023 here, she indicated that the document on the finalized nuclear deal will be forwarded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. prior to the targeted signing of the agreement on or before the end of this year.

The ‘123 Agreement’ is anchored on Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, which generally prescribes the US government’s entry into ‘peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement’ with any country that will be availing of technology transfer from American nuclear companies, as well as those on technical assistance, scientific research and safeguard discussions.

Garin noted that the ‘123 nuke deal’ will be firmed up in conjunction with other nonproliferation legal frameworks, primarily the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), an international agreement which is promoting the safe use of nuclear technologies.

“For our 123 Agreement with the US, the Americans will be visiting again this month – and we’re already 90-percent done with the negotiations, so hopefully before November, we can conclude this deal with the US,” she stressed.

The energy official expounded “we’re almost ready with the agreement; and this will enable us to comply with all the requirements so that in 10 years or so, we’re ready to have power from nuclear energy in the country.”

As cast in the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP), the country is eyeing the resurgence of nuclear in the power mix starting year 2032 -- starting with 1,200 megawatts, then it will be ramped up to 2,400 by 2040; and will escalate to 4,800MW by 2050.

The US State Department is the leading agency that has been negotiating for the ‘123 Agreement’ with the Philippines, with assistance and concurrence from its Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE-NNSA) and in collaboration with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“It is essential for the Philippines to enter into this agreement, because if we won’t, then our Filipino companies cannot have access to the technologies of the US companies, including the SMRs (small modular reactors) of NuScale, UltraSafe and all the other American firms with nuclear technologies,” the energy official emphasized.

To date, the Philippine companies that already expressed interest on prospective SMR installations had been Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and Aboitiz Power Corporation.

Garin added “the nuclear deal is also very important if we have to seek technical assistance from the US government on the deployment of SMRs and other nuclear technologies in the country - so we need that agreement because it’s their way of making sure that there is non-proliferation.”

She explained that “on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons condition in the agreement, that is also very consistent with the prescription of our Philippine Constitution, so there is no contention on our negotiations with them on that.”

Apart from nonproliferation, the other key concerns being sorted in the deal, she said, are “the eventual issue of reprocessing of waste, because that’s a major issue for them; then we are also working on some definitions of terms that will be integrated in the agreement.”