Meralco nuclear talks with Ultra Safe stall

Meralco executive vice president and COO Ronnie Aperocho. Photo by Jordeene B. Lagare

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest electricity distributor, is on the hunt for new partners who can help build small nuclear power plants in the Philippines.

This, as discussions with US-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC) have stalled.

Meralco executive vice president and COO Ronnie Aperocho said a number of foreign companies had approached the listed company to explore the development of micro modular nuclear power plants.

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The Marcos administration has been keen on adding nuclear energy into the country’s power mix as it can help the country reduce its heavy dependence on fossil fuels.

“Hopefully this year [it will materialize],” Aperocho said last week.

Aperocho said the tie-up with USNC, a Seattle-based firm that specializes in micro modular reactors and other nuclear power technologies, has been in limbo as the latter had run into financial troubles.

“Ultra Safe Nuclear has experienced some financial challenges, which is why our partnership is not progressing,” he said.

In October last year, USNC filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to facilitate its sale to Standard Nuclear Inc.

This involves the firm and its subsidiaries, Ultra Safe Nuclear-Technologies, USNC-Power, and Global First Power Ltd.

The company had said it would maintain full operational continuity across its projects, including the deployment of its micro modular reactor systems in the United States and Canada.

Meralco last year signed a cooperative agreement with USNC to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) in the country. It entailed conducting a pre-feasibility study to determine the viability of building SMRs.

SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors that can produce 300 megawatts of electricity per unit, about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Such nuclear facilities can help the country achieve energy security and ensure steady electricity supply as these can be built in smaller or remote areas.

Even though Meralco has ongoing talks with interested parties, Aperocho said power companies like them can only do so much, as the framework for nuclear energy development in the country has yet to be institutionalized.

“Now we’re looking for partners for SMR (small modular reactors), we’re talking to a lot of people,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, that could only progress once the law is passed here in the Philippines,” he said.