Bataan Nuclear Power Plant Research Paper

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is nuclear power plant, completed but never fueled, on Bataan Peninsula, 100 kilometers (62 mi) west of Manila in the Philippines. It is located on a 3.57 square kilometer government reservation at Napot Point in Morong, Bataan. It was the Philippines’ only attempt at building a nuclear power plant. The Philippine nuclear program started in 1958 with the creation of the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) under Republic Act 2067. Under a regime of martial law, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in July 1973 announced the decision to build a nuclear power plant. This was in response to the 1973 oil crisis, as the Middle East oil embargo had put a heavy strain on the Philippine economy, and Marcos believed nuclear power to be the solution to
The project was criticized for being a potential threat to public health, especially since the plant was located in an earthquake zone, and because a volcano formation was found near the location of the plant.The BNPP's tainted history is already a hard lesson on how the pursuit of nuclear power has been a gargantuan and unjust burden on Filipinos. Even now, with moves for its revival heralding what appears to be aggressive plans for a national nuclear program, nuclear power may become the altar upon which this country will bankrupt itself.

The House committee on energy yesterday held an inquiry into the government’s latest plans for the nearly 40-year-old Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).Should the government decide to operate the plant, it would need years of preparation and an additional $1 billion for repairs, authorities said.National Power Corp. (Napocor) President Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita said rehabilitation of the Bataan plant and studies on whether the plant can still be operated safely will require years, according to the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute