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A bill allocating P100 million for a feasibility study has already "predetermined" results, a member of a multisectoral alliance against the recommissioning and operation of mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) said on Friday. Engr. Roberto Verzola, secretary-general of Philippine Greens, a member of Network Opposed to Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (NO to BNPP), said in a statement that Rep. Mark Cojuangco's H.B. 6300 on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) has been scheduled by the House of Representatives for plenary debates when it reconvenes in July.

Prof. Kelvin Rodolfo of the Univ of Illinois' Department of Earth and University of the Philippines published part 1 of his article on the volcanic and earthquake hazards facing the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). The BNPP is in the middle of a controversy between Cong. Cojuangco's Bill to revive the plant and those who oppose it's revival. Opposition to the bill is mounting with the most noise coming from activist group GreenPeace and the powerful Catholic Church Prof Rodolfo's article shows that in the rush to build the powerplant, in order to address the serious energy crisis of 1973, assessment of the geologic hazards inherent in the site were not properly conducted. A study of that proportion would have also entailed a considerable amount of time to complete. It was found out that the BNPP, which is situated in Morong Bataan, sits right on top of a volcanic area. Early on the design phase, alarms raised as to the region having high probabilities of earthquakes occurring due to the volcanic presence were promptly ignored.

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) is one of the most controversial projects of former president Ferdinand Marcos. The plant construction began in 1977 despite strong opposition from various sectors because of the risks it poses on the life and health of the people. When Marcos was ousted, the succeeding administration of Corazan Aquino closed down the power plant citing 4,000 defects in its design and construction. Today, the current administration under Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is pushing for the re-opening and rehabilitation of the power plant in Bataan as a solution to the projected "energy crisis" in 2012.

THE Bataan nuclear power plant, which never produced a single watt of electricity but cost taxpayers $155,000 a day for more than 30 years, has been sold for scrap for $2.859 million. A project of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the plant in Morong, Bataan, was completed in 1984 at a cost of $2.3 billion on a debt of $1.06 billion. The plant-which later was found to have been overpriced and unsafe-was mothballed after Marcos was overthrown in 1986, but the debt payments on it continued until April 2007. The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., which sells off state-owned power plants, said the Bataan facility was sold through a negotiated sale to Rubenori Inc., a local scrap dealer.

The government, through state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor), has signed a deal with Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) on the possible revival of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). In a statement on Tuesday, Napocor said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kepco for the conduct of studies on the reactivation of the nuclear plant in Morong town of Bataan province, 150 km northwest of Manila. The memorandum does not give Kepco any preferential rights to future projects or plans that Napocor may undertake in connection with the country's only nuclear power plant.

Activist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) on Saturday assailed a proposal by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes to open the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant to solve the country's energy woes, saying the plant would cause more problems instead. On Saturday Secretary Reyes said he is thinking of opening the supposed 630-megawatt power plant in Morong, Bataan, to add to the country's energy capacity.

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) that President Ferdinand Marcos had built on Napot Point at the seacoast in the Bataan town of Morong has an unacceptably high risk of serious damage from earthquakes, volcanism, or both, should it be activated in accordance with a bill currently being considered by the House of Representatives. Marcos decided to build the BNPP in 1973, to address the first serious energy crisis that happened that same year. This rushed timing clearly indicates that the natural hazards of the site could not have been assessed properly. Such a study would have taken at least several years.

Through a massive outpouring of people in the streets, the Filipino people ousted the regime of the dictator Marcos in February 1986. The event, popularly known as the People Power Revolution, was the culmination of years of mobilizations, protests, strikes and welgang bayan (people's strike) that preceeded the fortituous date. Among these protests was the welgang bayan held in June 20, 1985 which was supported by workers, students, clergy and ordinary residents from Bataan in addition to multitudes of protesters from other provinces. For nearly three days, people from the nearby provinces of Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Manila marched toward Morong as part of the people's protest against the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

Faced with rising energy costs and the possibility of a power shortage by 2010, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed Senate Bill 2665 "mandating the immediate re-commissioning and commercial operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plan (BNPP)."

The controversial bill that will revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) has been losing steam in the House of Representatives with the withdrawal of support of some of its endorsers, a staunch opponent of the bill claimed on Monday. Etta Rosales, acting president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), said that House Bill 6300, the consolidated version of the bill sponsored by Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo and principally authored by Pangasinan Representative Mark Cojuangco lists only 125 co-authors. The original bill of Cojuangco, House Bill 4631, had 185 co-authors.

State-run National Power Corp. expects Korea Electric Power Co. (Kepco) to submit as early as October this year the results of a feasibility study on the possible rehabilitation of the mothballed 630-megawatt Bataan nuclear power plant. Napocor senior vice president Pio J. Benavidez told reporters that everything was on track as the 12-member Kepco team and government representatives were already doing a system verification process, which is expected to end by September.

Philippines-As antinuclear plant activists started marching on Saturday to mark the 24th anniversary of the Welgang Bayan against the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), Balanga (Bataan) Bishop Socrates Villegas expressed disgust at President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for considering nuclear power as an energy source. The bishop was reacting to a speech of Ms Arroyo at a meeting of the International Friendship Exchange Council of Japan in Tokyo on Friday where the President said the Philippines was in the process of renewing its energy options, including the use of nuclear power.

"Taxpayers would have to cough up another billion dollars to rehabilitate the mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant, according to a study commissioned by the government. The Marcos regime spent about $2.10 billion for the construction of the power plant, with successive governments setting aside P40 million a year for its maintenance even though the facility has yet to generate a single watt of electricity. Opposition from various environmental and cause-oriented groups led the Aquino administration to mothball the Philippines' lone nuclear facility in 1986. Froilan Tampinco, National Power Cor p. (Napocor) president, said that Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) has submitted its study on how much it would cost to run the facility."

THE government needs around $1 billion to rehabilitate and operate the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, an official of the National Power Corp. said over the weekend. Napocor senior vice president Pio Benavidez, who is part of a special team on nuclear energy, said the rehabilitation alone would cost about $800 million. "It is estimated that we could spend around $800 million maximum for the operation of the [plant], but we may need $1 billion including the transmission line. We need to build new transmission lines since the old ones are already dismantled," Benavidez said.

Three Catholic bishops are opposing the proposed revival of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, citing safety hazards and waste of scarce government resources. "With so much to be spent for its rehabilitation, is this the time to revive this folly of Marcos corruption? Could the money not be used for more urgent needs of the poor like schools and hospitals?" said Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas, who has pastoral jurisdiction over the area where the power plant is located.

To be sure, there is no lack of justification to revive the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Nuclear energy could lessen the country's dependence on imported oil. Because nuclear power does not emit greenhouse gases, the BNPP revival would support the global consensus to reduce burning of fossil fuels that emit higher carbon dioxide concentrations. Also, the timing looks auspicious, as public sentiment in many First World countries, which has been anti-nuclear for the past 30 years or so, appears to be ebbing away.

Nuclear energy is again a hot topic, thanks to a bill filed in Congress that seeks to earmark $1billion for a project to "revive" the Philippine Nuclear Power Plant (PNPP) in Morong, Bataan. Due to numerous safety concerns, PNPP was never actually allowed to go on line although for decades it was the country's single biggest source of foreign indebtedness-without producing a single watt of electricity. The bill's proponents, however, have been trying to convince the public that atomic power is the solution to the country's energy problems and that its detractors are merely harping on old fears. Since the 1980s, they add, nuclear technology has undergone much improvement, thus further ensuring its safety. Other sources-expert ones-say otherwise.

MANILA, Philippines -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has cautioned the Philippines and other countries considering the revival of nuclear energy options not to let "commercial interests take precedence over safety issues."

EVERYTHING seems easy to some proponents to make the Bataan nuclear plant generate energy for the first time in the unseen future: 1) only $1 billion R48,500,000,000) is needed and 2) just one of our 7,000 islands for waste disposal will suffice. The tall boast One Filipino geologist claims to be knowledgeable: "Give me one island out of our 7,000 and I can find ways to safely store nuclear waste in the Philippines." He referred to levels of barrier protection system and cited Carlsbad, New Mexico as a model for disposal of nuclear waste. He said we have this attitude of "not in my backyard."

The Senate and the Office of the President have in their possession an explosive study whose disclosure could very well result in the permanent shuttering of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and end moves in Congress to reopen the facility, according to environmentalist Nicanor Perlas. According to Perlas, it is important that the four-year study be made public as Congress has now begun debates on a bill filed by Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco seeking to rehabilitate the BNPP at a cost of $1 billion.