The Manila Times

Marcos in talks with US nuclear firm

CATHERINE S. VALENTE

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) met with top executives of US-based NUscale Power, signaling his determination to bring nuclear power to the Philippines.

Marcos, who is in the US for a six-day official visit, held a series of dialogues with three American-based companies in New York, including NuScale Power, an American energy firm that offers advanced nuclear technology.

Founded in 2007, NuScale aims to provide scalable advanced nuclear technology for the production of electricity, heat and clean water.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier said that the country will look into the possible use of modular nuclear power plants, claimed to be the future of clean energy.

Romualdez said the US had offered the power plants and that it is being developed “rapidly.”

“So, we are seriously going to look into it. I think President Marcos is quite excited about it. As a matter of fact, I think NuScale, which is a company developing

this technology, is now having a partnership with the local energy company here in the Philippines,” Romualdez said in an earlier television interview.

Marcos previously expressed his desire to adopt nuclear energy as part of the country’s power mix and the need to build new power plants.

In his State of the Nation Address

in July, the President said that should the country opt to use nuclear energy under his term, the government will use the guidelines adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“I believe that it is time also to reexamine our strategy towards building nuclear power plants in the Philippines. We will comply, of course, with the International Atomic Energy Agency regulations for nuclear power plants as they have been strengthened after Fukushima,” Marcos told lawmakers.

He admitted that while innovations would allow power plants to utilize nuclear energy on a smaller scale, funding could be an issue.

“In the area of nuclear power, there have been new technologies developed that [allow] smaller scale, modular, nuclear plants and other derivations thereof. Once again, PPPs will play a part in support as funding in this period is limited,” he added.

Marcos’ father, former president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., was one of the proponents of nuclear energy.

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, the country’s first and only nuclear power plant, was unused for fear of accidents.

Marcos also had a dialogue with California-based company WasteFuel which produces renewable fuels through proven technologies.

In a bid to address climate emergency and revolutionize mobility, WasteFuel converts municipal and agricultural waste into low-carbon fuels, renewable natural gas and green methanol.

WasteFuel’s first project in development for aviation fuel is in the Philippines, partnering with infrastructure developer Prime Infrastructure and NetJets.

The President also had a meeting with top officials of Boeing.

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2022-09-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281496460143763

The Manila Times