Philippines' unfinished nuclear dream

The Philippines has been very close to its goal of being the first country in Southeast Asia to produce nuclear power, but the Chernobyl and Fukushima disaster makes their nuclear facility now only a tourist destination.

Bataan nuclear power plant is located about 100 km west of the Philippine capital through Manila Bay. Started in 1976 and completed in 1984 on the tip of the Bataan Peninsula, it should have become the first nuclear power plant to operate in Southeast Asia.

In 1979, an accident took place at the US Three Mile nuclear power plant, raising public concern about the safety of atomic energy. The Philippine president of the time, Ferdinand Marcos, ordered an expert commission to assess the situation. This committee concludes that the plant is not safe because it is located near an active volcano and fault zones can cause earthquakes.

Despite the warning of the expert committee, the Philippine National Electricity Corporation, which owns the factory, is still determined to make the dream of nuclear power come true. Uranium is transported from the US by a Boeing 747, which has been put into the factory. In 1986, plant managers were ready to take the final step: putting uranium fuel rods into nuclear reactors.

But two important events occurred in 1986: Disaster at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine and the dictator Marcos were overthrown. International inspectors, who came to inspect the factory after Marcos left, concluded that it was not safe. So the new Philippine government at that time decided to close the factory.

More than two decades later nuclear energy advocates have been constantly lobbying for the government to allow the Bataan plant to operate. In early 2011, when their efforts were about to "bear fruit" , the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima I power plant in Japan broke out.

'We could have become the first country in Asia to have a nuclear power plant, but we couldn't do it. Every time the opportunity comes, disaster happens again. We don't need to hire a nuclear expert, but just need a feng shui master to drive away bad luck , 'Mauro Marcelo, a nuclear engineer at the National Electricity Group.

The fate of Bataan nuclear power plant associated with the events
Nuclear in the world and fluctuating in the Philippine politics.

After the incident at Japan's Fukushima I nuclear power plant, the Philippine National Electricity Group decided to turn the plant into a tourist destination. The factory, which has never produced electricity, is now generating revenue thanks to visitors from the Philippines and other countries, especially Japan. Dennis Gana, a factory spokesman, said tours must be registered several months in advance. The uranium in the factory was sold out in 1997 so visitors can be assured of safety.

People who love Bataan factory are excited by the incredible success of the tourism project. Now they can tell visitors that the plant is really needed for the Philippines, one of the countries with the highest electricity selling prices in Asia because most of the electricity is produced from fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

They claim that the Philippines, the first country in Southeast Asia to be interested in nuclear power, is now among many countries - like Vietnam and Malaysia - that are accepting nuclear power. Due to slower economic growth, the Philippines may lag behind its neighbors.

The appearance of the Bataan factory has remained almost unchanged since Westinghouse completed its construction in 1986. In the central control room, a blue phone was found. It is a hotline to the president's office.

The factory maintenance staff takes the job of leading visitors through a maze made up of thick cement walls and iron doors. The end of the maze is a light water nuclear reactor. From an iron bridge above the reactor, visitors feel they can touch the furnace.

'This is the only place in the world where you can step into a building that has a nuclear reactor and admire the real kiln,' Reynaldo Punzalan, a technician who works at the factory since it was not built. Punzalan now manages a maintenance team of 20 people.

For Punzalan, leading tourists to help him get out of the boring work cycle for more than a quarter of a century: check the entire plant, replace monthly steam turbines and ask questions about the possibility. The government allows factories to operate. In addition to defending the factory, the guards also had only two pleasures: chewing mangoes and killing wild goats to grill meat. But now the soldiers have another mission: to communicate with visitors.

For Marcelo, 59, studying nuclear engineering in university seems to be the most interesting thing in life. But his dream of building a nuclear power plant dates back to the 1950s due to the influence of the US President's Peace Nuclear Service program Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the early 1960s, the US government offered the Philippines a nuclear reactor designed to serve research.

The fate of Bataan nuclear power plant is also associated with the erratic state of Philippine politics, namely the rivalry between Marcos and Aquino - two families that have a great influence on Philippine politics for four decades. by. Many opposed Bataan because it was the idea of ​​Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator who had ruled in the Philippines for a long time and was supported by the United States.

According to initial calculations, the construction cost of the factory is 1.2 billion USD. But that figure eventually jumped to $ 2.3 billion. Many believe that part of the money went into the pockets of the family of former President Marcos and his friends. President Corazon C. Aquino, who overthrew Marcos in the "people's power" revolution, decided to postpone the launch of the Bataan factory after the Chernobyl disaster. Mr. Benigno S. Aquino III, son of Aquino and current president, also claimed he did not approve of the idea of ​​restoring the plant's operation.

Recently dozens of Japanese tourists have ordered a series of nuclear safety questions with Mr. Punzalan. Fumie Shutoh, a 59-year-old tourist, said she visited the Bataan factory to learn about nuclear energy on her own.

'Due to the Fukushima I incident, I felt I could not believe the information about the nuclear energy provided by the government,' Ms. Shutoh said.

After the bus drove the crew out of the factory, Punzalan, who had given up hope of seeing the factory before retiring, commented: 'They are a fastidious crowd'.