Should we consider powering up the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant?

**shadow** · June 11th, 2008 07:50 AM

hell yes!!! should have open it a loooooooooooooong time ago....

**boybi** · June 11th, 2008 07:56 AM

Originally Posted by uls

i don't know what condition that nuclear plant is in but i bet it's in bad shape.
(mothballed for years, left to deteriorate)

So it would take years and millions of dollars to get it up to operational condition.

Don't know if the govt has the budget for it...

And the environmentalists will be opposing it...

Use the billions of pesos that the gov't is giving to the poor (P500.00* ?) as power subsidy to rehabilitate the nuclear plant.

**CVT** · June 11th, 2008 09:27 AM

In this time and age,- we should be engaging alternative sources of power.

Nuclear is definitely one of the most viable sources. It's just like electricity during its early stages,- we just need to understand and know how to tame it, and enforce procedures to effect reliable and solid checks and controls....

6220:foryou:

**uls** · June 11th, 2008 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by boybi

Use the billions of pesos that the gov't is giving to the poor (P500.00* ?) as power subsidy to rehabilitate the nuclear plant.

Ya but GMA gets more political mileage by giving away cash

**ghosthunter** · June 11th, 2008 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by flex

I dont want a Chernobyl type of incident to happen here.

The BNPP is using an american design reactor vessel in where the reaction is moderated by it's casing design and not by water. The fuel rod design keeps the nuclear fuel from reaching critical by virtue of it's shape.

The russian chernobyl reactor depended on water to keep the reaction in control. If water goes below a certain level and not restored quickly, the reaction turns the water into high pressure steam and fuel itself turns critical very quickly which was part of the reason why the russian design is unsafe and not used outside of soviet controlled countries.

**fourtheboys96** · June 11th, 2008 01:10 PM

yes why not. but some questions need to be answered.

do we have the money to rehabilitate the facility???

do we have the expertise to operate it??? or do international laws allow foreigners to operate nuclear facilities in the Philippines???

in the meantime, why dont we explore wind energy. we can put offshore wind farms in any of the 7,100 islands in the country.

**ghosthunter** · June 11th, 2008 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by fourtheboys96

yes why not. but some questions need to be answered.
do we have the money to rehabilitate the facility???

yes.. unfortunately it just all goes to the pockets of the politicians

do we have the expertise to operate it??? or do international laws allow foreigners to operate nuclear facilities in the Philippines???

Experts can be hired, laws can be changed.

in the meantime, why dont we explore wind energy. we can put offshore wind farms in any of the 7,100 islands in the country.

A shotgun effort in trying to solve a problem will only result in an answer saying we need to have a more focused attempt at solving the problem.

**mbeige** · June 11th, 2008 01:58 PM

That, or if not, harness the power of the sun with solar panels. I don't know if the country already has its own solar plant, I'm sure it might be expensive but it's harnessed energy from the sun. No problem with environmentalists, and at least the heat we all complain about can be used productively rather than simply go to waste.

It might cost the same anyway to repair that facility or build the solar plant, I think...

**ghosthunter** · June 11th, 2008 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by mbeige

That, or if not, harness the power of the sun with solar panels. I don't know if the country already has its own solar plant, I'm sure it might be expensive but it's harnessed energy from the sun. No problem with environmentalists, and at least the heat we all complain about can be used productively rather than simply go to waste.

It might cost the same anyway to repair that facility or build the solar plant, I think...

Building a commercial solar power plant based around photovoltaics is not yet practical in cost. It would be more practical to build a solar thermal power station.

**safeorigin** · June 11th, 2008 09:01 PM

people need to start realizing the reality of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. people think of it like, oh there's a faultline here, too risky, land will be cut in half, rector will go kaboom. right...

well, before kaboom happens, there should be a trigger first and in the case of nuclear power, neutron/alpha particle. uranium was dug up using various explosives, excavation equipments and other stuff that could physically degrede it. basically there are 2 usable forms of nuclear fuels:
weapon/arsenal grade and reactor grade. these 2 need to undergo several changes before they could be turned to the other state(just like what north korea and iraq is doing, switcheroo when UN comes inspecting). ever heard of any nuclear disaster in japan? they even plan on having independent micro reactors on every block.

we have a lot of intelligent people around here that might even tinker about and innovate on this particular technology. if people are still unsure of the reactor in bataan, why not call for our japanese neighbors to build one for us?(i'm pertaining to toshiba who built the alaska micro reactor) afterall, we could have an updated structure for further safety if people are too nervous. well just my 2 cents