Rep. Cojuangco suggests nuclear waste facility on Pag-asa Island

In case the country utilizes nuclear energy, Pangasinan 2nd District Representative Mark Cojuangco is recommending that a nuclear waste facility be put up on Pag-asa Island in Palawan.

At a talk on nuclear energy at the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) on Monday, Cojuangco, the House Special Committee on Nuclear Energy Chair and PNRI Director Carlo Arcilla said nuclear waste may be disposed of through via deep borehole disposal where the radioactive material is buried deep underground, or through storage in dry cask containers for future use.

“We want it done (on Pag-asa Island) so we kill two birds with one stone. We put economic value to this place. All the people there all of a sudden have good, high-paying jobs and we exert our national sovereignty at the same time,” Cojuangco said.

“We can also put our interim storage facility if we decide we don’t want to bury it yet,” he added.

Cojuangco, who has long advocated the use of nuclear energy, assured the public of its safety.

“There is no industry on this Earth that has a zero casualty rate over the last 60 years. Wala po. Wala nang mas ligtas sa nuclear power sa buong mundo,” he said.

(There is nothing as safe as nuclear power in the whole world.)

The Department of Energy (DOE) said it is eyeing nuclear power to be included in the Philippines’ energy mix in the next 10 years.

Pag-asa Island is located 277 kilometers away from mainland Palawan and is the administrative capital of the Kalayaan island group. Covering an area of 32.7 hectares, it is the largest among the Kalayaan islands and has an estimated population of 300 to 400 people.—RF, GMA Integrated News