“The United States will be able to share equipment and materials with the Philippines to help develop small modular reactors and other civilian nuclear energy infrastructure,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ongoing APEC Summit in San Francisco. Negotiations on the 123 Agreement are set to begin in November 2022.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks at the APEC CEO Summit in San Francisco, US on November 15, 2023. Photo: AP
“We see nuclear energy becoming part of the Philippine energy mix by 2032 and we are excited to pursue this path with the United States… Nuclear energy is an area where we can show that the Philippine-US alliance and partnership really works,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a speech.
The agreement, which requires US congressional approval, would allow the peaceful transfer of nuclear material, equipment and information in compliance with non-proliferation requirements.
The Philippines wants to explore nuclear power as an alternative source of baseload power as it seeks to retire coal plants to help meet climate goals and boost energy security. The Southeast Asian nation is often hit by volatile global oil prices, seasonal blackouts and high electricity prices.
Previous efforts to pursue nuclear power in the Philippines have been halted due to safety concerns, but Mr. Marcos has discussed the possibility of reviving a bankrupt nuclear power plant built to respond to the Philippines’ energy crisis under his father’s administration.
Completed in 1984, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was mothballed two years later due to the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as well as other internal problems in the Philippines.
Hoang Hai (according to Reuters, CNA)
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