Academic support vital for nuclear power dev’t

It will be best to prepare our schools to have a nuclear engineering program. In every step of the way, the academe has an essential role in the nuclear power program and its future operations

Support of the country’s academic sector is being asked by the Department of Energy (DoE) to hasten the study and development of nuclear power as a viable power source amid the impending fall down of some of the country’s reservoirs.

Energy assistant secretary Gerardo Erguiza, in an online forum, underscored that the government needs backing from industry professionals and academic scholars to establish a national policy on the use of nuclear energy as a long-term option for power generation.

“It will be best to prepare our schools to have a nuclear engineering program. In every step of the way, the academe has an essential role in the nuclear power program and its future operations,” Erguiza said.

Energy chief Alfonso Cusi recently disclosed that the DoE will submit the results of the study conducted by the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC) to Malacañang this month.

Potential collaboration

Once submitted, Cusi affirmed that the DoE will start to “open doors for potential collaborative opportunities in the future with the international nuclear energy community.”

Under Executive Order (EO) 116, the NEP-IAC spearheads the study for the adoption of a National Position on a Nuclear Energy Program that follows guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The order, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last July, mandates the DoE to revisit the country’s policy on nuclear energy to determine its feasibility as a source of power.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the government is pushing towards a “responsive and dynamic” energy mix to support the growing industrialization and expected increase in energy demand.