MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will study the proposal to include nuclear power in the country’s energy mix in preparation for the rapid growth in electricity demand. Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, during Monday night’s Cabinet meeting in Malacañang, sought the President’s approval of the issuance of a proposed executive order (EO) for the inclusion of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix. “The proposed EO was submitted by the OES (Office of the Executive Secretary) to the President on February 20, 2020. The proposal came four months after the Philippines signed up with Russia’s state nuclear company to look into the feasibility of buying into its newly launched “floating nuclear power plant” technology. The Constitution does not ban the use of nuclear energy, but it “pursues a policy of freedom from nuclear weapons in its territory.”The country’s first and only nuclear power station, the US$2 billion Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, was built during the term of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the height of the 1973 oil crisis.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 03, 2020 06:56 UTC