(Eagle News)–Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has urged the Department of Energy to be more transparent about its nuclear agenda.
Gatchalian issued the statement following reports the Philippines and Russia signed a deal on exploring the possible construction of a nuclear power plant in the country, and as the Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee, which he chairs, examined the DOE’s proposed ₱97 million budget allocation for the country’s nuclear program agenda.
In making the call, Gatchalian noted that “we don’t have a signal form the President on whether to go or not to go” so far.
“And yet, we are undertaking more studies,” he said.
He said “nuclear power is a very controversial source of power.”
“To be honest about it, we cannot cloak it in secrecy or else, the more the public will doubt us,” he said.
Russian media has reported that Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation had offered to build a nuclear station in the Philippines.
President Rodrigo Duterte confirmed the possible construction of floating nuclear power plants in the country but added he was unsure about whether the deal was constitutional or not.
