A possible energy crisis may loom in the country if the government cannot find other alternative energy sources to supply the growing demand, former Pangasinan representative Mark Cojuangco said.
The impact of a power crisis has been felt in the country since 2007, Cojuangco said during the Nuclear Power Forum at the University of the Cordilleras.
The former lawmaker added that the country’s growing demand for electricity can be addressed once the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNNP) is opened.
“There is a need to revive the dormant Bataan Nuclear Power Plant,” Cojuancgo said.
He said that the BNPP is a source of alternative energy and technology coming from natural reactors are safe, clean and cheap energy sources versus renewable energy sources of the USA and Switzerland.
The country’s electricity demand is expected to grow by five percent annually until 2013 or about 126 tera-watt hours from 2015’s 82 TWh, he added.
The government is spending P50 million in maintaining the mothballed power plant, Cojuangco said.
The Nuclear Power Forum is part of a nationwide information campaign in advocating the revival of the BNPP. The plant is said to be a safe energy source built of 0.4g peak acceleration constructed to withstand the great tremor projected to hit Luzon.
I am not convinced that we can employ such a delicate and unforgiving power source as a nuclear power plant and keep it safe and running for many years until it has been proven to me that we can properly maintain our toilets in government buildings and airports.