“WE SEE nuclear energy becoming a part of the Philippine energy mix by 2032, and we would be more than happy to pursue this path with the United States as one of our partners.”
Thus, spoke President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the recent signing of a nuclear deal between the Philippines and the US, adding that the Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, or the 123 Agreement, “is the first major step in this regard, taking our cooperation on capacity-building further and actually opening the doors for U.S. companies to invest and participate in nuclear power projects in the country.”
Quick were the administration’s minions to hail the agreement to harness nuclear energy as useful for the government’s agriculture and health projects.
“Beyond nuclear power applications to combat climate change, the new agreement facilitates cooperation in a wide array of other peaceful uses of atomic energy — all supportive of various Sustainable Development Goals,” said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.
As quick were climate activists and scientists in expressing their collective opposition to the “nuke deal.”
“A reckless decision that lacks careful consideration,” the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM) decried the agreement.
“President Marcos Jr. and his allies have hastily signed the 123 Agreement, neglecting the crucial step of conducting a comprehensive feasibility study,” it said. “This omission leaves the Marcos administration without a solid foundation to justify their nuclear aspirations, as the International Atomic Energy Agency emphasizes the importance of such studies in assessing a country’s needs and potential for nuclear energy.”
Furthered AGHAM: “As of this moment, there is no Filipino expert in nuclear safety or in radiological environmental impact assessment in the country. This means that we will have to disproportionately rely on the US nuclear regulatory mechanism, which will lead to us being clueless guinea pigs for their new nuclear technologies; since we do not have our own way of technically assessing future implementations.”
To the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, the 123 Agreement poses a threat by acquiring risky nuclear technologies, misleadingly promoted as a remedy for clean energy security.
“The agreement’s purported benefits are debunked. Nuclear energy, touted for clean energy, releases pollutants worsening the planet’s temperature. The resulting radioactive waste persists for years, often irresponsibly dumped or stored, lacking proper technology for disposal,” it said.
This new nuclear row in the public discussion makes relevant anew this blurb at the time Marcos Sr. was pushing for the Bataan nuclear power plant:
“If the government is right and the oppositors wrong, we will all be delighted fellows. But if the oppositors are right and the government wrong, we will all be sainted fellows with radioactive haloes.”
