7 working groups formed on BNPP
At least seven (7) working groups have been formed to undertake study and re-assessment of the planned rehabilitation and eventual repowering of the mothballed 600-megawatt Bataan nuclear power plant.
The energy department noted that these groups “will define the scope of work for the pre-feasibility study of the possible rehabilitation of BNPP.”
The DOE added that the study “is being provided by ROSATUM for free as part of the cooperation between the Philippines and Russia.” It is slated to last for two months – starting mid-September this year.
With the aid of foreign experts, the energy department’s Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization (NEPIO) indicated that it will be taking new steps to re-validate the technical aspects as well as the viable processes required on BNPP’s rehabilitation.
Kick-off meetings were held at the BNPP site this week, along with Russian and Slovenian nuclear experts “to make a preliminary assessment of the possibility and viability of rehabilitating the plant,” the department has noted in a media statement.
Meetings had been with Russia’s ROSATUM State Atomic Energy Corporation and Slovenia’ Gen Energia, with discussions focusing mainly on the prospects of bringing the country’s idled nuclear power facility into operational state.
The BNPP on-site meeting was joined by staterun National Power Corporation, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) and globally-renowned nuclear firm Worley Parsons.
Site inspection had similarly been scheduled August 30 “to physically assess the work requirements of each working group,” the DOE added.
Beyond gauging the physical condition of the nuclear plant and the prospective rehabilitation processes on its targeted operation, the Philippines has more comprehensive requirements on setting up the policy and regulatory frameworks on its nuclear energy ambitions.
It will likewise need to work harder on harnessing skill set of local talents on nuclear power operations as well as on management of such kind of technology in the country’s energy mix.
When the BNPP was shelved back in the 1980s, the Philippines had been left with no choice but to go through another round of re-orienting itself and enhancing its management capacity of a nuclear power program. (MMV)