Nuke deal with Russia useless – prelate

Useless. This was how a Catholic prelate described the nuclear deal between the Philippines and Russia.

Bishop Ruperto Santos said the agreement will never be beneficial to the country citing the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong, Bataan as an example.

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Russian Federa- tion State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) agreed on a nuclear cooperation program under a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed on November 13.

But the 620-megawatt (MW) BNPP was never activated following the Chernobyl disaster in Russia in 1986.

“That agreement will never be beneficial to our country, useless and will be another example of ‘white elephant’ as BNPP was,” he said in an interview.

Even assessing BNPP, the Balanga prelate said is absolute “waste” of talents and money.

“BNPP will never lead us to prosperity nor, and will never make our lives better. It is just instrument of death and destruction,” said Santos.

The prelate said the country should avoid a catastrophy and learn from the experience of Russia.

“Let us not forget what happened in Russia with their Chernobyl. Learn a lesson from that tragic and catastrophic event. Let us avoid it, and It should not happen to us with this BNPP,” Santos said.

In the past, the prelate already said that majority of the people and officials of Bataan province are strongly against the revival of the BNPP due to safety concerns.

Bishop Santos urged the government to study, plan and recourse to renewable sources of energy like solar, wind and water instead.