Nuclear plant gets funds

MANILA, Philippines—State-run National Power Corp. has secured lawmakers’ nod to allocate P50 million this year for the upkeep of the mothballed 630-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

In an interview with the Inquirer, Napocor president Froilan A. Tampinco said that both houses of Congress as well as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had agreed to reinstate the proposed budget for the maintenance of the country’s first and only nuclear facility.

Tampinco said that with sufficient explanation, Napocor was able to convince Congress of the necessity of such an allocation for a government asset that has remained idle for decades, yet one that the Department of Energy said cannot be neglected.

The BNPP was built during the Marcos era by Westinghouse Electric at a cost of $2.2 billion. It was mothballed in 1986 due to safety concerns, even before it could begin operations.