It is good that the Noynoy Aquino administration did not consider reviving the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).
Yes, we all agree, it is economical to operate a nuclear power plant. But if it fails, it is also expensive and destructive. If the power cost is only P1 while the cost of repairing damages is P10,000 in case of failures, you don’t need to study economics at UP or Ateneo to know the difference.
I am not a licensed engineer to say that the strength of materials has a certain period to remain unbreakable, or what we call in layman’s terms “metal fatigue.” But what about other factors that cannot be seen by the experts like “meteorites” dropping from the sky, or if China’s relationship with the Philippines changes and it decides to bomb our nuclear plant, or we lack uranium because China and other suppliers do not want to sell?
Former president Ferdinand Marcos’ cronies — like Herminio Disini — got fat commissions from Westinghouse. Cory mothballed the plant, and to prove to the world that the Philippines has integrity, she honored the country’s liabilities with Westinghouse. Meanwhile, scrap scavengers, in connivance with people inside, had methodically stolen most of the BNPP’s essential parts, like titanium condenser tubes.
The BNPP can be converted into a center for manufacturing “organic oil,” because it is very near Pampanga, Bataan, and Zambales that have millions of hectares suited to plant jatropha, cassava, sugar cane, and malunggay. Millions of jobs will be created, too.
About time we do something to erase the image that the BNNP is “a showcase of world-class corruption.”
ISIDRO C. VALENCIA
Taguig City
elcidvalencia60@gmail.com