BNPP, symbol of onerous loan under Marcos, back in discussion for PH nuke power

The head of the Duterte administration’s economic team is open to reviving the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which had been a symbol of onerous foreign loans under the Marcos dictatorship, before exploring new deals to possibly build nuclear facilities in the Philippines.

“We spent $2 billion on that thing, [but] it has never generated watt power.,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

“That plant has a sister-plant exactly the same in Slovenia, which has been operating since the 1970s so it must have been a good plant,” he said.

“So I think we should take a look at this plant and see if we can operate it safely and economically. It’s been sitting there since the 1970s,” Dominguez added.

“If you have an asset, let’s take a look. The primary standard, of course, is if it’s safe,” Dominguez said.

Opposition mounted against the BNPP during Marcos’ reign as critics of the projects and experts listed dozens of red flags in the design and terms of the foreign loan spent on it.

Among the red flags was its supposed location in an active fault line and lack of facilities to store highly radioactive nuclear wastes or means to dispose of these safely./TSB