March 05, 2010 16:45:00
Katherine Evangelista
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Amid the worsening energy problem in the country, former defense chief and administration presidential candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, Jr. endorsed nuclear power as a possible good energy source but thumbed down the revival of the controversial Bataan Nuclear Powerplant.
In a forum with members of the Defense Press Corps, Friday, Teodoro said that “we must seriously study nuclear power,” but said that reviving the BNPP was a “political suicide for a good program.”
“[The] Bataan nuclear power plant, forget it, no way, wag buhayin yan, ang daming kontrobersiya masyado [no need to revive that, there’s too much controversy] that will be a political suicide for a good program,” Teodoro said.
However, Teodoro said that with the current energy crisis the country was facing, the government should not only give band-aid solutions but must address the problem on a long term basis and must establish a sustainable energy roadmap.
“We should take this crisis two fold, number one deal with the current shortfall in power generation, you know the power barges, self generation by big users of electricity, facilitate whatever they need to self generate but what should be done aside from addressing now, we must address not only 10 years from now, but 20 years, 25 years, 50 years from now,” Teodoro said.
“We have to look that far ahead so that every year, we could put in the additional infrastructure necessary to create generating capacity,” he added.
The former defense chief noted that hydroelectric energy was no longer a reliable energy source due to the changing climatic pattern hence nuclear energy must seriously be studied and considered.
He added that the main concern in putting up nuclear power plants was finding a geographically safe location and creating facilities for nuclear wastes.
“I think once those two issues are overcome, it’s a good investment,” Teodoro said.
He added that the country has the potential for training human capability for nuclear energy generation noting that Filipinos worked in nuclear power plants in Japan and South Korea over the last decades.
Metro Manila and Mindanao have been experiencing rotating blackouts after hydroelectric power plants have failed to generate enough electricity for the Luzon and Mindanao grids.
On Thursday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said that she would adapt the proposal of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes which would entail declaring an energy crisis.
Katherine Evangelista
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Amid the worsening energy problem in the country, former defense chief and administration presidential candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, Jr. endorsed nuclear power as a possible good energy source but thumbed down the revival of the controversial Bataan Nuclear Powerplant.
In a forum with members of the Defense Press Corps, Friday, Teodoro said that “we must seriously study nuclear power,” but said that reviving the BNPP was a “political suicide for a good program.”
“[The] Bataan nuclear power plant, forget it, no way, wag buhayin yan, ang daming kontrobersiya masyado [no need to revive that, there’s too much controversy] that will be a political suicide for a good program,” Teodoro said.
However, Teodoro said that with the current energy crisis the country was facing, the government should not only give band-aid solutions but must address the problem on a long term basis and must establish a sustainable energy roadmap.
“We should take this crisis two fold, number one deal with the current shortfall in power generation, you know the power barges, self generation by big users of electricity, facilitate whatever they need to self generate but what should be done aside from addressing now, we must address not only 10 years from now, but 20 years, 25 years, 50 years from now,” Teodoro said.
“We have to look that far ahead so that every year, we could put in the additional infrastructure necessary to create generating capacity,” he added.
The former defense chief noted that hydroelectric energy was no longer a reliable energy source due to the changing climatic pattern hence nuclear energy must seriously be studied and considered.
He added that the main concern in putting up nuclear power plants was finding a geographically safe location and creating facilities for nuclear wastes.
“I think once those two issues are overcome, it’s a good investment,” Teodoro said.
He added that the country has the potential for training human capability for nuclear energy generation noting that Filipinos worked in nuclear power plants in Japan and South Korea over the last decades.
Metro Manila and Mindanao have been experiencing rotating blackouts after hydroelectric power plants have failed to generate enough electricity for the Luzon and Mindanao grids.
On Thursday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said that she would adapt the proposal of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes which would entail declaring an energy crisis.
Doing so will allow the government to invoke Section 71 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act and allow the National Power Corporation to purchase of lease power barges to augment Mindanao's power supply.
Source: http://politics.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&article=20100305-256837
Comments
Post a Comment