(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the creation of an inter-agency committee that will study the viability of nuclear energy as part of the country’s power generation mix.
In signing Executive Order No. 116 on July 24, the President noted that sustained economic development and energy security require a “reliable, secure, sustainable, quality and reasonably-priced” electricity supply, and that some countries have shown that nuclear power can be a “reliable, cost-competitive and environment-friendly energy source.”
According to the President, the International Atomic Energy Agency has already prescribed guidelines on building a National Position for a Nuclear Energy Program which “identify significant components thereof such as but not limited to national policy development, energy analysis and planning, prefeasibility study and the engagement of the public and relevant stakeholders.”
He added the Department of Energy, with the assistance of the IAEA, has already conducted a preliminary evaluation on the “possibility of introducing nuclear energy in the country’s power generation mix” through the conduct of “energy planning studies on the 19 infrastructure issues of nuclear power development, consistent with the IAEA’s Milestone Approach.”
The President said the nuclear energy program inter-agency committee, or NEP-IAC, will be headed by the Department of Energy, with the Department of Science of Technology as its co-chair.
The committee members are the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Finance, and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The National Economic Development Authority, National Power Corporation, National Transmission Corporation, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology are also committee members.
According to the President, the NEP-IAC shall be mandated to “conduct a pre-feasibility study to evaluate and assess the need for and viability of introducing nuclear power into the State’s energy mix, taking into consideration economic, security and environmental implications, and engagement of the public and relevant stakeholders.”
It will also formulate a national strategy to include a roadmap and timeline in the preparation of a national energy program.
The NEP-IAC shall also “review the existing legal framework,” and “recommend the necessary steps in the utilization of nuclear energy as well as existing facilities such as but not limited to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.”
The NEP-IAC, the President said, may call upon any department, agency or instrumentality of the government for assistance in the implementation of the order, and may engage the services of technical consultants of “proven and internationally recognized expertise” in nuclear technology “subject to all applicable laws, rules and regulations.”
The NEP-IAC shall submit a report to the President, through the Executive Secretary, within six months from effectivity of the order.
“Succeeding reports shall be submitted every six months thereafter,” the President said.
