China Seeks PH Partnership On Nuclear Energy Development

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), China is seeking a potential partnership with the Philippines for nuclear energy development.

“We have received a letter from China for cooperation on nuclear,” DOE Energy Policy and Planning Bureau director Michael Sinocruz said.

“It’s a general nuclear energy cooperation. So it could be the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), the conventional, or small modular reactors (SMR),” Sinocruz said.

According to Sinocruz, this expression of interest was a result of President Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Beijing in January.

“I think it’s a government-to-government (cooperation). But there has been no discussion yet as to what will be the coverage of the energy cooperation, unlike our agreement with the US,” Sinocruz said.

“Because we have a memorandum of understanding with the US, so the coverage of assistance to us is already being discussed,” Sinocruz added.

Sinocruz said nuclear energy would be included in the country’s energy planning until 2050 and remains to be explored.

“So there will be several scenarios. We can include the BNPP if that still can be rehabilitated, or we can build a new one, the conventional one, which is about 600 megawatts (MW) and above capacity, and in a scenario, we can tap the small modular reactor. Currently, we are doing an assessment,” Sinocruz said.

He said 13 areas were identified as possible sites for the conventional type, while 15 or 16 sites have been considered for SMRs. The DOE will also conduct a perception survey on nuclear energy this year.

“Once we come up with a shortlist of the sites, so we’ll also survey the specific sites. So you have a general survey for the entire country and then you need to do a survey that is specific to the site in the host community,” Sinocruz explained.

The DOE said it plans to create a Nuclear Power Roadmap in partnership with the private sector, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), experts, and stakeholders.

The agency will also update the existing Nuclear Power Roadmap as a guide to the Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization and the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee to address the challenge of the program.

“The government shall explore the possibility of developing small-scale modular nuclear power plant or its derivatives, subject to compliance with safety standards and regulation of the IAEA,” the DOE said.

Source: Philstar