The Department of Energy (DOE) is waiting for President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval before they could implement their plan to finally include nuclear energy in the country’s energy mix.
The DOE had already sent its proposal on the matter to the Office of the President, the department revealed during its budget hearing in the Senate on Tuesday.
Once the president gives his go signal, DOE will start a long-term capacity building plan toward the construction of a new power plant in the country.
DOE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi hopes that the president will decide on the matter soon as the construction of the nuclear plant would take about seven years.
Cusi explained that building the power plant will require several preparations such as, tapping of capable operators and getting public support for the project. “After we have the technology, what follows is capacity-building, identification of areas and social activities,” he said.
“We want nuclear to be part of our energy for security, sustainability and for affordability reasons,” Cusi told BusinessMirror.
With the creation of the Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization, the administration has been trying to reimplement the country’s use of nuclear power since 2016.
