MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order adopting a national position for a nuclear energy program.
Executive Order (EO) No. 164, signed on February 28, 2022 but made available to the media on Thursday, March 3, 2022, states that the national position for a nuclear energy program takes into account economic, political, social, and environmental objectives.
The EO states that for the country to achieve its growth targets, it must ensure that it has a reliable, secure, sustainable, quality and affordable electricity supply, including sufficient reserve to guarantee that there will be no disruptions in the power supply.
“Toward this end, and taking into consideration the experience of developed and growing economies, nuclear power shall be tapped as a viable alternative baseload power source along with alternative energy resources, to address the projected decline of coal-fired power plants which come under increasing environmental opposition,” the document read.
“The State envisions nuclear power as a viable component to bridge the gap between rising energy demands and supply, taking into account learnings from the past, national, social and economic development pathways, as well as international legal and regulatory frameworks, and best practices,” it added.
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