Gov't scientists mull push for nuke power plants

Government nuclear scientists are “seriously looking" into pushing policy makers to adopt nuclear power as an alternative source of energy. “We’re seriously looking into it (having nuclear power plants) because the day will come when we’ll need other sources of energy," Alumanda Dela Rosa, director of the Philippine Nuclear Research Instiute (PNRI), told reporters Friday after a presentation titled “Powering the Future: Nuclear Power for Substantial Development in the Philippines" at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City. Dela Rosa also cited a recommendation by the multi-agency nuclear power steering committee (NPSC) that “nuclear energy will remain as an option that the Philippine government may take in meeting the increasing energy demand in the future, unless other alternative energy systems would come within the framework of availability/sustainability, affordability, and environment compatibility of the energy supply." She added that in considering nuclear power, the focus would be on the development of required skilled personnel. The PNRI official added that nuclear power plants, along with hydroelectric facilities, emit no greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. “Globally, the use of nuclear power and hydroelectric as an alternative to fossil fuels over the past several decades has helped restrain carbon dioxide emissions," Dela Rosa said. The Philippines uses geothermal, coal, and hydroelectric power plants as its main sources of energy. The country completed construction of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in Morong, Bataan in 1984 during the reign of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was but it was never operated it due to safety concerns after a study found it contained thousands of defects. The 620-megawatt nuclear power plant, built at a cost of more than $2 billion, was mired in controversy over huge cost overruns and alleged kickbacks to government officials. It was also found not cost-effective to convert the BNPP into a non-nuclear power facility. -GMANews.TV