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The 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Energy Plant was left dormant after the elder Marcos was toppled in 1986.
Within the run-up to the Might 9 presidential election, Marcos Junior spoke concerning the want for nuclear energy to deal with exorbitant electrical energy prices within the nation.
He left open the opportunity of resuscitating his father’s failed enterprise — an concept he’s now pushing forward of his June 30 inauguration.
Marcos mentioned he met South Korean Ambassador to Manila Kim Inchul on Monday to debate a proposal on reviving the Bataan plant.
“Can we proceed with it or do we have to construct a brand new one? What are the issues that we should do?” Marcos informed a information convention after the assembly.
“So we revived the discussions on it, though they’ve come earlier than. We’ll now examine their suggestions and their findings, and we are going to see if we are able to nonetheless apply,” he added.
Research by South Korean and Russian consultants confirmed it was doable to get the plant working once more, Power Secretary Alfonso Cusi informed a Senate listening to in 2020.
However upgrading an ageing facility fitted with outdated analogue know-how may take a minimum of 4 years and price one other $1 billion.
There are additionally query marks on its design and placement.
A monument to the greed and graft of the elder Marcos’s period, the plant sits 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Manila, close to a number of volcanoes in part of the Philippines commonly shaken by earthquakes.
“If we’re going to industrialise post-pandemic, we’re going to undergo fast industrialisation, then the ability sector have to be prepared for that,” Marcos mentioned.
Constructing a brand new energy plant from scratch would take three to seven years, he added.
Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte issued an govt order earlier this yr making nuclear energy a part of the nation’s deliberate vitality combine.
The Philippines — commonly affected by electrical energy outages — depends on imported carbon-belching coal for greater than half of its energy technology.
Supporters of nuclear energy say the know-how presents a cleaner choice to assist meet demand.
However critics argue that renewable sources, akin to wind and photo voltaic, are cheaper and safer to supply in a rustic hit by earthquakes, typhoons and volcanic eruptions.
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