Philippine Nuclear Research Institute said Sunday that the Bataan nuclear plant, which has never been used, was still functional.
“Mali yung sinasabi ng iba na laspag. ‘Di pa nga ginagamit eh. Imbitahin ko kayo pumunta doon, ‘yan lang yung nuclear plant sa mundo na pwede ka mag-selfie sa loob ng reactor,” PNRI director Carlo Arcilla told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.
(What others say that it’s worn out is wrong. It is not used yet. I invite you to go there, that is the only nuclear plant in the world where you can take a selfie inside the reactor.)
Arcilla also said the Bataan nuclear plant is “60 percent younger” than 98 nuclear plants in the US.
“Pangalawa, kung ang sinasabi unsafe, sabihin natin ang Chernobyl, ang Chernobyl po kasi, iba ang design. ‘Yun ang tinatawag na Soviet design,” he said.
(Secondly, if some say it’s unsafe, let’s say Chernobyl because Chernobyl has a different design. That is what is called Soviet design.)
“Lahat po ng nuclear plants na Western design may takip. Ang tawag d’yan, containment structure. Kung sakaling may aksidente, di kakalat. ‘Yun pong Chernobyl, walang ganyan.”
All Western design nuclear plants have a cover. That is called a containment structure. In the event of an accident, it will not leak. Chernobyl didn’t have one.)
Bataan nuclear plant still functional
A nuclear accident caused the Chernobyl disaster on Saturday, 26 April 1986, at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR.
Arcilla said the Bataan nuclear plant has a similar design with three power plants located in Slovenia, South Korea, and Brazil.
“Kung bubuksan po ‘yan, meron tayong model na pagkukuhanan ng mga tao, spare parts,” he said.
(If it is opened, we have models where we can get personnel, spare parts.)
Arcilla said a coal power plant would consume 50 ships of 50,000 tons of coal worth $600 million while a nuclear power plant would only need $20 million worth of fuel to run for 18 months.
Last week, Palace said that President Rodrigo Duterte wants public consultations on the possible operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).