Marcos Jr. on mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant: ‘Too bad they stopped it’

SINGAPORE (UPDATED) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed disappointment as he looked back on the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant while visiting a nuclear research facility here in Singapore.

Marcos Jr. made the remark visited the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute on Saturday, October 10 upon the invitation of Temasek Foundation and Ayala Corporation as part of his five-day working visit here. 

“In 1986, we were already in the first two phases. We were already in that. In fact, that pool of trained, pool of professionals, government, the master PhD, professional, they’re still around. They’re still around. They’re still around waiting to put their knowledge into practice,” he said. 

“So, we never were going to do the last phase that you have. We already managed to do the first and the second, and too bad, they stopped it,” Marcos Jr. added.

The late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. ordered the Bataan plant to rise in 1976 at more than $2 billion but was never used.

It never started generating electricity after it was declared unsafe because it sits on a major earthquake fault line and lies near the Pinatubo volcano, which was dormant at that time.

Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption had no effect on the Bataan plant, 70 km (45 miles) away, but the project was mothballed in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

During the visit, Marcos Jr. also underscored the need for the Philippines to make power rates cheaper as his administration bats for nuclear energy to potentially enter the country’s long-term generation mix. 

“Because we always worry about, people are worried about safety and the answer that comes back is that ‘we don’t care where our power comes from but bring it more [sic] cheaper. That’s it. We don’t care where it comes from.’ So that’s changed completely,” the president said.

In July, the Department of Energy said the Philippines recorded the highest electricity rate among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the month of June, averaging at at P12.43/kWh for residential rate, even higher than Singapore’s average residential rate of P12.34/kWh.

In August, the Philippine energy department said the government is systematically addressing the infrastructure requirements under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Milestones Approach as the country advances its preparations toward Phase 2.

Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the country targets at least 1,200 megawatts (MW) of nuclear capacity by 2032, increasing to 2,400 MW by 2035 and 4,800 MW by 2050.

Singapore has not decided to adopt nuclear energy as it is currently studying the option through the Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review, according to the Singapore Government. 

Established in 2014 under the Nuclear Safety Research and Education Programme, the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute was developed with the aim of building up Singapore’s capabilities in nuclear safety, science and engineering.

Marcos Jr. was joined by Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque and other business tycoons Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Sabin Aboitiz and Temasek Foundation’s Jenny Chua among others.