Duterte gives go signal for $1-B nuke plant rehab

President Rodrigo Duterte previously rejected the idea of reviving the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant but now, it seems like he changed his mind as he gave the green light for its rehabilitation.

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Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi tells reporters that President Duterte has given special orders regarding the safety and security during the reactivation of the 40-year-old power facility.

“I reassured him that all of his concerns will be addressed. We are going to follow the strict measures of the International Energy Agency,” Cusi said. “He raised his concerns, and I gave him the assurance that we would not do it recklessly.”

Inquirer.net also said that Cusi gave an estimate of two to four years to get the abandoned power plant up and running — requiring about $1PHP 59INR 85EUR 0.95CNY 7 billion for the completion of its rehabilitation.

Since it was originally a project back in the 1970s, most of the experts involved have either retired or passed away so Cusi admits that the government currently doesn’t have the technical expertise to operate the plant. Those who are out of the country will also be requested back for this operation.

It’s interesting to see how this rehabilitation would turn out as they hope to bring it back to life and generate around 621 megawatts of electricity.

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Kevin Bruce Francisco

Kevin Bruce Francisco is the Senior Editor and Video Producer for YugaTech. He's a Digital Filmmaking graduate who's always either daydreaming of traveling or actually going places on his bike. Follow him on Twitter for more tech updates @kevincofrancis.

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5 Comments

Jinalopes says:

8 years ago

This could be used as a pretext so we can go into nuclear weapon research and development.

There is a plan to change the constitution and we don’t know if the prohibition on nuclear weapons will be changed as well. With a little paranoia, people can be convinced that we need nuclear weapons and support that change the constitution.

Fun times ahead!
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Do it says:

8 years ago

Cost per watt of electricity from nuclear energy is a lot cheaper than electricity from fossil fuels. Go ahead and rehabilitate it. Just remember to address the issues of nuclear waste. :-)
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XTR says:

8 years ago

I hope they are not going to use that dilapitated Bataan plant but instead build a new one.
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jeff says:

7 years ago

While first world countries are moving toward renewable energy such as solar, wind and wave, we are moving backwards..
- Reply