Pangasinan wants a nuclear power plant
PANGASINAN, host to the 200 megawatts (MW) coal-fired power plant in Sual town and the 345-MW hydro-plant at the San Roque Multi-purpose Dam in San Manuel, has just opened its door to the possibility of having a nuclear power plant.
The provincial board approved a resolution last week inviting “the national government to locate under certain conditions, the Keido Nuclear Plant assets within the boundaries of the province, most specifically along the coastline areas”.
An ad hoc committee jointly chaired by Board Members Alfonso Bince Jr., Tyrone Agabas and Romeo Dadacay has been formed to further study the initiative.
The resolution was passed after 5th District Rep. Mark Cojuangco, who also filed a resolution in Congress asking for the reopening of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, wrote a letter to the board proposing the nuclear power plant option.
Cojuangco’s letter was also signed and endorsed by Reps. Arthur Celeste, Jose de Venecia Jr., Conrado Estrella III and Robert Raymund Estrella of the Pangasinan-based Abono party-list.
Cojuangco’s letter dated Feb. 2, 2010 said his initiative is in response to the impending power crisis in 2012.
“Such a provincial welcome and invitation being conditional on the benefits of a reciprocally lower electricity price of between P2.50 to P3.00 pesos per KWH for a quantity equal to the province’s peak historical need and reasonably beyond…is a patriotic act which will benefit the Province, but more importantly, the country,” Cojuangco wrote.
“History will see us right, as it has already now, vindicated nuclear power generation the world over, resulting in a massive nuclear power renaissance worldwide which is centered in Asia,” the letter continued.
The proposed nuclear power plant will use technology from South Korea, one of the leaders in nuclear power generation.
“There is a distinct possibility that the South Korean government would allow the Philippines to take possession of these assets at very concessionary terms given the very close and brotherly relations between the two countries and the large local Korean population who have made the Philippines their second home,” the resolution said.
The Luzon power grid is expected to meet power shortage of 3,000 megawatts by the year 2012, resulting in wide scale rotating brownouts.
“The province of Pangasinan expresses its willingness to host the KEDO NNP/s or any currently model NPP/s to become the premier electric power generating province on the island of Luzon,” the resolution added.
Bince and Agabas said they know that this proposal will have to go through a long process of evaluation and gave assurance that all legal processes will be observed.#
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