Bataan nuclear plant as tourism spot?

A proposal to open to the public the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant as a tourism site was opposed by a lawmaker who said the move would be risky.

Rep. Kimi Cojuangco of Pangasinan, who advocates the revival of the plant, said that the proposal to charge P20 as entry fee for each visitor trivializes the value of an expensive asset.

“It’s a national asset worth $2.118 billion that promises deliverance from the people’s suffering from expensive electricity, if activated,” said Cojuangco.

The Bataan nuclear plant, which has a rated output of 620 megawatts of electricity, has suffered for so long from bad public relations, mostly from untruths and unfounded fear, she said. “If any untoward incident happens inside the nuclear plant involving a tourist, the plant will again be put in a bad light.”

Cojuangco said the nuclear plant is not tourist friendly because it has steep stairs and the entry and exit ways are not designed to accommodate large groups of people.

“It was not built to accommodate many people at the same time. And the equipment are highly specialized and exposing them to human intervention might result in damage,” said Cojuangco.

The lawmaker lamented the fact that the P20/per tourist proceeds seems to be a desperate move to raise more revenues.

“This will raise peanuts compared to the hundreds of billions if not trillions of pesos of benefit if we would rather operate it,” said Cojuangco.

She said that a 620MW nuclear plant, when operated, can reduce incidents of poverty, provide thousands of jobs per year, and deliver the Philippines from being known as a poor country with hundreds of the most expensive costs of power in the world.

Cojuangco and husband, former congressman Mark Cojuangco, have adopted a moratorium on their personal advocacy for the validation and possible operation of the BNPP until official reports regarding the nuclear accident in Fukushima are released.

Last March, Japan was hit by a tsunami which caused the Fukushima nuclear meltdown.

“There continues to be a lot of positive feedback for nuclear energy despite the Fukushima accident because the world still depends on the safety and reliability, not to mention the economic feasibility, of nuclear power as an energy source,” said Cojuangco.

By Maricel Cruz