S Korean firm exploring nuclear power plant in Philippines
A South Korean company has opened exploratory talks with the Philippine government on the possibility of reactivating the country's mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant, a company official said.
By Agencies |
MANILA: A South Korean company has opened exploratory talks with the Philippine government on the possibility of reactivating the country's mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant, a company official said.
An official of the Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco) has initiated talks with the Philippine government to reactivate the $2.3 billion plant which was closed in 1987 without generating one watt of electricity.
"So far the talks have been unofficial," Kyong Goo Hur, director general for Asia Business Department of Kepco told media.
He said the company has proposed conducting a study on the feasibility of the Bataan plant or "the possibility of a new nuclear plant." Hur said the government was still considering the proposal and has made no comment so far.
The Philippine government paid off the Bataan nuclear power plant earlier this year. Construction began in 1976 and was completed in 1984 at a cost of $2.3 billion.
The plant, located in Bataan province west of Manila, was a knee-jerk government reaction to the energy crisis of the early 1970s.
The Middle East oil embargo at the time put a heavy strain on the Philippine economy and then president Ferdinand Marcos saw nuclear power as the best way forward in terms of meeting the country's future needs and reducing reliance on imported oil.
The plant is still intact, including the reactor but the nuclear technology dates back to the 1980s.
The power station, 60 miles (97 kilometres) north of Manila, has been the centre of controversy from the day construction began.
When Marcos was overthrown in early 1986, a team of international inspectors visited the site and declared it unsafe and inoperable as it was built near major earthquake fault lines and close to the then dormant Pinatubo volcano.
Debt repayment on the plant became the country's biggest single obligation.
An official of the Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco) has initiated talks with the Philippine government to reactivate the $2.3 billion plant which was closed in 1987 without generating one watt of electricity.
"So far the talks have been unofficial," Kyong Goo Hur, director general for Asia Business Department of Kepco told media.
He said the company has proposed conducting a study on the feasibility of the Bataan plant or "the possibility of a new nuclear plant." Hur said the government was still considering the proposal and has made no comment so far.
The Philippine government paid off the Bataan nuclear power plant earlier this year. Construction began in 1976 and was completed in 1984 at a cost of $2.3 billion.
The plant, located in Bataan province west of Manila, was a knee-jerk government reaction to the energy crisis of the early 1970s.
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The Middle East oil embargo at the time put a heavy strain on the Philippine economy and then president Ferdinand Marcos saw nuclear power as the best way forward in terms of meeting the country's future needs and reducing reliance on imported oil.
The plant is still intact, including the reactor but the nuclear technology dates back to the 1980s.
The power station, 60 miles (97 kilometres) north of Manila, has been the centre of controversy from the day construction began.
When Marcos was overthrown in early 1986, a team of international inspectors visited the site and declared it unsafe and inoperable as it was built near major earthquake fault lines and close to the then dormant Pinatubo volcano.
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Debt repayment on the plant became the country's biggest single obligation.
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