According to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Raphael “Popo’’ Lotilla on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, the Marcos administration is working on the possibility of using small modular reactors (SMRs) as an alternative source of energy to address the country’s growing electricity demand.
He said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had a talk with developers of the SMRs on how to roll out the technology during his visit to the United States last April, wherein they also discussed Marcos’ concern about the safety, sustainability, deployability and affordability of the SMRs.
However, Lotilla said use of SMRs or conventional nuclear power plants will depend on Congress and private stakeholders in the energy sector.
“Should the Congress give the green light, then we wouldn’t be starting from scratch. So we will have to do our part in the executive department, such as preparing the (potential) sites and other requirements,” Lotilla said during the Pandesal Forum at the Kamuning Bakery Cafe on July 5.
Advantages
The Marcos administration said the use of SMRs will be in accordance with requirements and regulations set by The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the intergovernmental organization that promotes the safe and peaceful use of nuclear energy across the globe.
According to the IAEA, SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with the power capacity of up to 300 megawatts per unit, almost one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors.
It has the advantage of being small and modular, thus requiring less space. It’s also easier to construct and is cost-effective.
Lotilla said the developers of SMRs have guaranteed that these are safer compared to a conventional nuclear power plant because of new technologies that minimize the risk of a possible meltdown or nuclear disaster.
“They use as a cooling medium not water but molten salts, helium and others that are not as volatile or susceptible to explosion or meltdown,” he said.
With the archipelagic geography of the Philippines, Lolita said that deploying SMRs will be more economical and sustainable.
However, Lotilla said SMRs are still in the demonstration stage and not yet commercially available. Even if it becomes so, the price per unit might be expensive for the government.
That’s why the DOE has collaborated with the National Economic and Development Agency (Neda) to develop a framework for the private sector to participate in nuclear energy generation, he said.
He said the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001 prohibits the government from owning and operating in the electric power industry, which is why the private sector must be tapped.
“Under the Epira, the government is prohibited from entering the energy generation space. And if there is a possibility or potential for the private sector to do it, then we should by all means encourage the private sector to do it,” Lotilla said.
