RP should spend funds on real energy solutions instead of nuke plant

MANILA, Philippines - Instead of allotting funds for recommissioning the Philippines’ mothballed nuclear facility, the country should use its resources for “real and meaningful solutions to climate change and energy crisis." This was proposed by the Philippine Climate Watch Alliance (PCWA), a group of progressive sectoral and environmental organizations that expressed opposition to Senate Bill No. 2665. The bill intends to re-commission the BNPP, “to address global warming" and the "shortfall in the electric generating capacity of the country in 2012." “Construction and generating costs of nuclear power are far greater than most renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies around the world," the group’s statement said. The government is reviving the country’s nuclear option “[perhaps] because it is a multibillion dollar project where fat and grease money will come in from foreign energy corporations and international financial institutions," the statement said, quoting Clemente Bautista, PCWA member. Two years after its completion in 1986, then-President Corazon C. Aquino mothballed the plant, which was found to have 4,000 defects and was unsafe to operate, the group claimed. Even though the BNPP has never produced a single watt of electricity, the Filipino people still paid a total of P120 billion for principal and interest since 1986. “We just need to recall that President Marcos and his cronies are estimated to have gotten $80 million in kickbacks," Bautista remarked. "With the current administration, that is said to be the most corrupt and with many scams already under her name, the BNPP will just be another racket at the expense of the safety of our people and environment." PCWA stand their ground that BNPP is an unsound proposal for a country with vast renewable energy potential. Its proponents should be trashed along with the BNPP, which is already widely known to be hazardous to the environment, health of the people, and national security. "We have more than enough sustainable energy resources that can be tapped like hydro, geothermal, wind, solar and natural gas to meet our country's energy requirement and propel us to energy independence. There is not one valid reason for us to resort to nuclear energy," Meggie Nolasco, PCWA spokesperson, said in a statement. The BNPP will not address global warming as its proponents claim, the group said. "That the nuclear power plant will not emit greenhouse gases is a perverse lie. In addition to uranium ore being non-renewable, large amounts of carbon will be emitted due to the fuel that is needed to operate the plant," said Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, a renowned geologist and a member of PCWA. - GMANews.TV