“We lost decades debating while others built. Now we either go nuclear – or stay behind”
The Philippines has finally taken a concrete step toward securing its long-term energy needs.
The enactment of the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilATOM) Act gives the country the legal and institutional framework to develop nuclear power as a reliable baseload energy source.
This should have happened decades ago.
While we mothballed the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), South Korea made a different choice.
It built and commissioned Kori 2, a nuclear power plant that uses the same Westinghouse technology as BNPP.
That reactor has been generating electricity since 1983, helping fuel South Korea’s transformation into a global manufacturing powerhouse.
Meanwhile, we remained stuck with costly, imported fossil fuels—trapping our industries in a cycle of high power costs and low competitiveness.
Today, we are still paying for that mistake.
Our grid remains heavily dependent on coal, gas, and oil.
Electricity prices in the Philippines are among the highest in Southeast Asia. Power shortages persist.
For a country trying to revive its manufacturing base and attract foreign investment, this is a major liability.
Kori 2 is proof that the technology meant for BNPP was viable, safe, and effective. Instead of treating nuclear as a threat, Korea treated it as an engine for growth.
That decision helped them build a competitive export economy, reduce fuel imports, and stabilize power supply.
Had we followed through with BNPP—and developed more nuclear capacity over time—our story could have been quite different.
At the recent Philippine International Nuclear Supply Chain Forum (PINSCF), officials, experts, and global industry leaders delivered one consistent message: the Philippines is ready.
DOE-commissioned data shows 70 percent of Filipinos now support nuclear power, and 76 percent want to learn more.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said this strong public backing “gives us the confidence to move forward” with safe, calibrated development.
Dr. Carlo Arcilla of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute broke down the science: “Nuclear has four million times more energy than coal, oil, or gas.”
He also emphasized its reliability—operating up to 92 percent of the time, far above the 20 percent capacity factor of solar and wind in the Philippines. This is crucial for baseload power—especially in a grid that can’t afford volatility.
Renewables are important, but they’re not enough.
They rely on the weather, need backup, and require expensive storage to stabilize. When solar and wind drop off, it’s fossil fuels that fill the gap—often at premium cost. As Dr. Arcilla said, “When renewables stop, the replacement energy is the expensive energy.”
DOE Undersecretary Rowena Guevara connected the dots: the failure to run BNPP in the 1980s triggered a flood of coal plants in the 1990s and led to the power crisis we still haven’t fully recovered from.
“We are still paying for stranded costs in our electric bill today,” she said.
Now we have a second chance. President Marcos Jr. has made nuclear energy a strategic priority, calling it a path to long-term planning, energy security, and industrial strength.
His message to the forum made clear that this is no longer a theoretical debate—it’s a national direction.
The private sector is already moving.
Meralco has launched its Nuclear Energy Strategic Transition (NEST) program to explore deployment options for both large-scale plants and small modular reactors (SMRs).
It has formed partnerships with South Korea’s KEPCO, France’s EDF, and the U.S. government. Through its FISSION program, Meralco is also investing in nuclear education to build a skilled local workforce.
This alignment—of government policy, private-sector initiative, and public support—creates the conditions for progress.
But it needs urgency. We have already wasted decades.
As Canada’s Todd Smith of CANDU Energy pointed out, countries with stable, scalable nuclear power attract manufacturing, data centers, and advanced industries.
Without it, we remain stuck with high costs and low resilience.
Had BNPP gone online, and had we expanded from there, we could have followed South Korea’s path.
We could have supported our own industrial takeoff with clean, stable, and domestically anchored energy.
We could have reduced our exposure to oil shocks and gas shortages.
We could have avoided the soaring prices that continue to undermine our global competitiveness.
PhilATOM is a good start. But legislation is only a tool. It will take firm political will, consistent leadership, and a clear-eyed understanding of what nuclear power actually offers: affordable electricity, long-term stability, and a real foundation for industrialization.
South Korea turned on Kori 2 and never looked back. We shut down BNPP and fell behind.
We lost decades debating while others built. Now we either go nuclear – or stay behind.
