Argument Paper: Nuclear Power
Talks were starting to brim again on the Senate about how the Philippines’ should address its need to increase the country’s energy supply. It was stated in an article from CNN Philippines that there were a few talks about it from the Senate Committee on Energy; Secretary Alfonso Cusi of the Department of Energy did discuss that they are indeed looking forward to improve other sources of energy, coal and renewable energy included, and also opening the table for the discussion of considering nuclear power as a possible source (Estanislao, 2016). Debates about considering nuclear power as a source of energy for the Philippines have been rampant and endless due to the fact that many developed countries are already using it, and have already built as many nuclear power plants as they can. Before talks about how nuclear power should be used here in the Philippines, people must consider its concerns in terms of the environment, the economy, and its geographic limitations.
Climate change is a result of global warming. In a brochure published by Nuclear Energy Agency (2015), fossil fuels produce more carbon emissions – a chemical that contributes to global warming when released in the atmosphere – than nuclear power. 67.7% of the production of electricity goes to fossil fuels, while only 10.8% is produced by nuclear power (NEA, 2015). Since the high production of fossil fuels results to high carbon emissions, if only nuclear power, which produces less carbon, is only produced more, there is a possibility that global warming rates might decrease. However, its affirmative contributions to reducing global warming rates would not be able to justify its potential environmental risks and hazards. Given the previous nuclear power-related incident, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, it resulted to a destruction of an ecosystem in the area. Today’s called Red Forest remains one of the most contaminated areas in the world. It is the forest where “pine trees went red and died in response to a massive blast of radiation” (Mulvey, 2006, para. 67). Animals (horses, cattles) living in this forest also died or stopped reproducing (Mulvey, 2006). If nuclear power were used as a source of energy, the environmental dangers would be too risky, given the massive life and biodiversity, for the Philippines to handle.
Economically, the establishment of nuclear power plants would provide ample employment opportunities for the country. According to a publication by Nuclear Energy Institute (2014), “[the] operation of a nuclear plant requires 400 to 700 direct permanent jobs. These jobs pay 36 percent more than average salaries in the local area” (p. 2). This could help the country in alleviating the eminent problem of unemployment. In spite of this, there are still heavy economic implications if the establishment of nuclear power plants is pursued. First, the capital cost, which includes the construction and the financing costs, are direly expensive (World Nuclear Association, 2016). According to the World Nuclear Association (2016), there are also additional expenses while sustaining the nuclear power plant such as operating costs, system costs, external costs and tax costs. Since we are still in debt from previous administrations and we lack the current technology for pursuing nuclear power, our current economic state would not be able to handle and manage the expenditures of sustaining a nuclear power plant.
Lastly, in terms of geography, one of nuclear power’s prime advantages is its availability of nuclear power plants. Unlike fossil fuels and other renewable sources where they still need to find the location where it is available, a nuclear power plant can be established and built by man from economic resources on a certain location, which can now produce loads of nuclear energy. As long as the assessment of the location site for building a nuclear power plant meets the proper requirements such as proximity to grid, water supply like what Boyd (1997) has said, the production of nuclear power can now be limitless. However, the geographic advantage is also our country’s geographic limitation. Considering the incident on Fukushima last 2011, according to a news article from the Telegraph, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had already warned the Japanese government about the safety rules of the Fukushima power plant and predicted the impact of strong earthquakes and natural disasters on the said plant (Swinford & Hope, 2011). Since our country lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, we are prone to earthquakes and frequent volcanic activity. It would reckless for us to build nuclear power plants without mulling over our own geographic limitations.
These environmental, economic, and geographical concerns should be all taken into consideration by the government and its stakeholders. It is important to take into account all the possibilities and limitations of using nuclear power as a source of energy in the Philippines, while still bearing in mind what is best for the wellbeing of the citizens in our country.
Bibliography:
Boyd, F. (1997, March). Siting of Nuclear Power Plants. Retrieved 05 October 2016 from https://canteach.candu.org/Content%20Library/20051513.pdf
Estanislao, A. (2016, September 1). Nuclear power: A go or no?. Retrieved October 05, 2016, from http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/09/01/nuclear-power-bataan-powerplant-alternative-source-energy-senate-power-crisis.html
Mulvey, Stephen (2006, April 4). Chernobyl – Part One. BBC News. Retrieved 05 October 2016 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4843316.stm
Mulvey, Stephen (2006, April 20). Wildlife defies radiation. BBC News. Retrieved 05 October 2016 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4923342.stm
Nuclear Energy: Combating Climate Change. (2015, October). [Brochure] N.P.: Nuclear Energy Agency
Nuclear Energy Institute (2014, April). Nuclear Energy’s Economic Benefits — Current and Future. Retrieved 05 October 2016 from http://www.nei.org/CorporateSite/media/filefolder/Policy/Papers/jobs.pdf?ext=.pdf
Swinford, S. & Hope, C. (2011, March). Japan earthquake: Japan warned over nuclear plants, WikiLeaks cables show. Retrieved 05 October 2016 from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8384059/Japan-earthquake-Japan-warned-over-nuclear-plants-WikiLeaks-cables-show.html
World Nuclear Association (2016, July). The Economics of Nuclear Power. Retrieved 05 October 2016 from http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/economic-aspects/economics-of-nuclear-power.aspx