Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP)

THE PHILIPPINES is the first and only country in ASEAN to build and complete a nuclear power plant
(The ASEAN Post, 2019). Located on Bataan Peninsula, 100 kilometers from the west of Manila stands
the concrete evidence of Philippines’ only attempt to harness nuclear energy – Bataan Nuclear Power
Plant.

The BNPP, whose construction began during the Marcos regime in 1976 and completed in 1980s
was what the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos perceived as a solution to what was then impending oil
crisis. However, it was shut down during the term of former President Corazon Aquino in fear of the 1986
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster that occurred in former Soviet Ukraine and due to certain
corruption issues.

The power plant whose main goal was to generate 621 megawatts (623 MW in some sources) of
power has not been operational ever since and caused unjust burden among Filipinos as it cost the
Philippines 2.3 billion USD to be completed (The ASEAN Post, 2019; Greenpeace, 2018).

The results of having this power plant and the way it is expected to help the country could have
been promising. Optimistically, if activated, the plant should be able to power up and sustain more or
less 10 % of the Northern Philippines’ electricity demand (Lo, 2011). Being a nuclear power plant, it could
have provided jobs for a wide number of citizen. Even more, it could have aided to the rising demand for
electricity in the country.

OPERATION AND MECHANISM

Source: The ASEAN POST

The nuclear reactor type that is built in Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was Pressurized Water
Reactors or PWR.
 Nuclear fuel (uranium pellets) in the reactor pressure vessel undergoes a fission chain reaction
producing heat. By thermal conduction, the water is heated in the primary coolant loop through the fuel
cladding. The hot primary coolant then flows through hundreds or thousands of small tubes of the steam
generator (a heat exchanger). The lower pressure secondary coolant absorbs this heat through the walls
of the tube and the coolant evaporates to pressurized steam. The transfer of heat is accomplished
without mixing the two fluids to prevent the secondary coolant from becoming radioactive.

The pressurized steam is then fed through a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator
connected to the electric grid for transmission. After passing through the turbine the secondary coolant
(water-steam mixture) is cooled down and condensed in a condenser. The condenser converts the steam
to liquid so that it can be pumped back into the steam generator, and maintains a vacuum at the turbine
outlet so that the pressure drop across the turbine, and hence the energy extracted from the steam, is
maximized.

HISTORY AND CONTROVERSY

Tracing the origin of the BNPP would lead us to a tainted history marked by controversies from safety
concerns to issues with high cost and corruption.

The birth of nuclear energy in the Philippines was in the 1950s when the United States gave the
Philippines a nuclear fission reactor (Camacho, 2017). In 1958, the government started a nuclear program
under the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). President Marcos then announced in July 1973
the decision to build a nuclear power plant.

General Electric and Westinghouse Electric partook in submitting proposals for the power plant.
General Electric’s proposal, according to Magno (1998), contained detailed specifications of the plant and
estimated the costs to be $700 million. On the other hand, the latter submitted a proposal in lower cost
estimation - $500 million – however the proposal didn’t contain detailed specifications. The committee
in charge of the project ruled over General Electric’s proposal but Marcos, in June 1974, signed a letter
awarding the project to Westinghouse Electric despite the missing specifications.

In March 1975, the cost estimate of the plant blown up to $1.2 billion. The contract then jumped
from $650 million for only one reactor to $2.2 billion (Camacho, 2017). By 1984, the BNPP was already
complete and its cost estimate had reached $2.3 billion. Equipped with a Westinghouse light water
reactor, it is designed to generate 621 megawatts of electricity (ABS-CBN News, 2007).

CHALLENGES ON REHABILITATION
All throughout the construction of the BNPP, issues regarding safe concerns and cost issues have caused
flak amongst critics and mere citizens and hindered its construction and operation once it was complete
built. Now that the current administration eyes adapting nuclear energy to avert energy shortage in the
Philippines, several challenges shall arise:

(1) Geological Concern. One contending issues that left the power plant dysfunctional was the fact
that it was located in an earthquake zone connected to Mount Natib, a volcano similar to Mount
Pinatubo. According to the US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center,
several earthquakes have occurred on Mount Natib from 1951 to 2016. Thus, the power plant
poses threat to public health and safety. Experts say nuclear meltdowns or widespread
 radioactive contamination will happen if the plant got hit by an earthquake. This was one of the
reasons why the nuclear plant was shut down during former President Aquino’s term. They
feared what happened Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Daiichi which all experienced nuclear
meltdowns.
(2) Cost of rehabilitation. Russian experts said that the Bataan Power Plant can become operational
but would require repairs costing between $3 billion to $4 billion. Funding such massive amount
might as well be hard for a third world country who is already facing immense poverty.
(3) Waste disposal. Critics have expressed concerns on where nuclear will be disposed once the
plant gets functional. Nuclear wastes are known to release radiation and heat, and takes 10 000
years to reach the tolerable level of radioactivity. Uranium and other radioactive elements are
dangerous especially when not disposed properly. EcoWaste Coalition, a non-governmental
group, had expressed their definite disagreement to rehabilitating the Bataan Nuclear Power
Plant three years ago, saying that Philippines is incapable of managing and disposing nuclear
waste; even mentioning that nuclear waste is also a problem to countries which have come to
use nuclear energy.

Should the government rehabilitate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant? Given the current situation of
our country, it will be better if we are to focus on other prevailing issues in our country first. It seemed to
us that we have enough in our plate right now. We have to deal with the concerns on rice tariffication law
more than anything else. Philippines is an agricultural country and the agricultural sector fills 40% of our
country’s economy.

The promise of having nuclear energy in the country is promising and it is good to know that
Russia is offering help in advancing such field. Nevertheless, the government might as well provide
resolutions to prevailing concerns of our country and once we have the issues under control, we can think
of the proposal again. With regards to that, the authorities and persons that will be tasked to oversee
such project shall analyze the situation well and portray their roles otherwise, corruption and other
controversies may emerge again.

Sources
Camacho, T. (2017.) The Controversy of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. (Retrieved on
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2017/ph241/camacho2/ on October 13, 2019).
Greenpeace. (2018). Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. (Retrieved on https://www.greenpeace.org/archive-
philippines/Archives/campaigns/climate-change/end-the-nuclear-age/nuclear-energy-not-a-
solution/bataan-nuclear-power-plant/ on October 13, 2019).
Lo, B. (2011). Nuclear power plant tour. (Retrieved at https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/nuclear-power-
plant-tour/ on October 13, 2019).
Magno, A. (1998). Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People Vol. 9. Asia Publishing Co. pp. 204–
205. ISBN 962-258-232-X.
The ASEAN Post. (March 2019). Philippines considering nuclear energy.(Retrieved at
https://theaseanpost.com/article/philippines-considering-nuclear-energy on October 13, 2019).