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AFTER
the government’s pronouncement that it will form a team
that will study the use of nuclear power, Tokyo Electric
Power Co. Inc. (Tepco) has expressed willingness to
assist the Philippine government.
In a
press conference, Toshiro Kudama, Tepco general manager
for international affairs, said his company is willing
to back the government through information sharing and
training on nuclear power technology.
Kudama
said that Tepco is willing to share its expertise to the
Philippine government.
“In
Japan, building a nuclear plant takes more than 15 years
and if the Philippine government decides to push through
with the technology, studies should be made as early as
now,” Kudama said.
He added
that his company will assist the Philippine government.
“But nuclear power project should be a private company
and semigovernment, [undertaking],” he said.
Tepco
owns 17 nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 17,308
megawatts and nuclear power in
Japan
is considered as a base load energy and it accounts for
approximately 40 percent of Tepco’s total electricity
output.
Tepco’s
first investment in the Philippines is through its
purchase of Mirant’s assets in the
Philippines.
Tepco, together with Marubeni Corp., bought Mirant’s
assets for $3.4 billion and formed TeaM Energy Corp.
Energy
Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla earlier said the
Philippine government is looking at seeking assistance
from Tepco to help in assessing whether the country will
pursue or consider the use of nuclear power as an
alternative source of energy.
The
energy chief added that Tepco, a member of the
consortium that won the bidding for the Philippine
business of Mirant Corp., runs several nuclear power
plants in Japan.
Citing
the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security,
Lotilla said one of the proposals then was to have more
information sharing and training so that different
countries can have enough human resources that can help
decide whether or not to go into nuclear power.
Though
the 1987 Philippine Constitution prohibits the use of
nuclear power in the country, Lotilla said the 25-year
long-term plan of President Ramos before has a reference
to consider nuclear power by 2022.
“And
since it takes 15 years to make a full decision on
whether to go for it or not, now is an opportune time to
look at this thing [nuclear power],” Lotilla said.
With the
Constitution prohibiting the use of nuclear power, the
government has looked at several proposals to convert
the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) into an
oil, coal, or gas-fired power station.
Based on
Kepco’s study conducted before 2004, the conversion of
the BNPP will cost $600 million, which could have
increased considering the hikes in the foreign exchange
rates in the past.
The BNPP
was built in the early 1970s as ordered by former
Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos in response to
the 1973 oil crisis that had put a heavy strain on the
economy.
Marcos
then saw nuclear power as the best way forward in
meeting the country’s future power needs and reducing
the country’s dependence on imported oil.
The
country pays $155,000 a day for debt servicing of the
BNPP.
In 2004,
the Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco), on the other
hand, deemed the conversion to be impossible considering
the high cost needed to convert the plant.
In 2005,
Fernando Y. Roxas, an associate professor at the Asian
Institute of Management, said the next viable option for
the country to develop is nuclear power plants aside
from geothermal and hydroelectric power plants.
“Nuclear
power is promising but the Constitution discriminates
against it being used,” Roxas said at the Knowledge and
Capacity Enhancement Training for Energy Reporters. |
