‘Gibo’ bats for the tapping of nuke energy for power

from The Daily Tribune
http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20100117nat3.html

In line with his goal of reducing the Philippines’ dependence on imported fossil fuel, Lakas-Kampi-Christian-Muslim Democrats standard-bearer Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. is urging the country’s energy officials to look into the possibility of building nuclear-powered plants in order to meet the domestic demand for cheap and easily produced electricity.

“After that all have been said and done, nuclear energy is still the safest, cleanest and cheapest form of alternative energy in the planet,” Teodoro said in a forum by presidential contenders held at the Philippine Christian University on Taft Avenue, Manila last Monday.

He said when maintained and operated properly by qualified nuclear technicians, nuclear-powered plants pose no great risk to the population and the environment.

Teodoro noted that nuclear energy’s cheapness and dependability can be attested by the fact that Abu Dhabi, one of the largest oil exporters in the world, recently granted a $25-billion contract to a South Korean firm to design and construct its first-ever nuclear energy generation facility.

He said most of the major countries in the world, Japan and China included, operate some form of nuclear energy extraction facility and none have yet to report experiencing a “meltdown” or reactor failure much dreaded by environmentalists and anti-nuclear energy advocates.

The 1989 Philippine Bar examination topnotcher also said technical and safety advances in  nuclear power extraction and engineering have greatly reduced the possibility of such incidents from ever happening.

“Advances in nuclear engineering and design have greatly precluded meltdowns or nuclear reactor failure from happening,” Teodoro stressed.

But the Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate, however, clarified that he is not pushing for the activation of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), as “it is now obsolete by present standards.”

“It would be more cost-efficient for the government to build a new plant as retrofitting the BNPP to present-day standards is more expensive in the long run,” Teodoro said.