Press release - March 5, 2009
Greenpeace Southeast Asia Campaigns Manager for the Philippines Beau Baconguis said:
"The ongoing debate on the House bill mandating the revival of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant which continue to drag on in the House Committee on Appropriations just goes to show that Mark Cojuangco’s sordid nuclear proposal is clearly unsound and should not have been considered in the first place. Every single study conducted on the BNPP has concluded that this nuclear facility is unsafe to operate. There is no judicious reason why Congress should continue to hear this pointless proposal.
"Greenpeace has constantly asserted that: 1) Nuclear power is
the most dangerous way to generate electricity, there is also no
known scientific solution to safely storing plutonium, its deadly
radioactive waste-product which remains radiotoxic for 240,000
years; 2) it is the most expensive source of power: aside from
pricey construction costs, nuclear power involves expenses for
decommissioning, as well as storage for nuclear waste, each of
which can cost considerably more than new power plants; 3) Nuclear
power cannot solve climate change-the contribution it can
potentially make is negligible, and studies show that the entire
nuclear power plant life cycle contributes significantly to climate
change, and 4) it cannot give the country energy security, and will
further render the Philippines dependent on the supply of uranium
which is a limited resource found only in a few countries. No
discussion in Congress can reverse any of the above arguments.
"Congress should therefore junk the BNPP revival and other
nuclear power proposals, and focus on the full implementation of
the RE Act which they passed last year. Congress should use their
oversight function to ensure that the agencies tasked to develop
the Implementing Rules and Regulations will complete their tasks
within the deadline set by law and that the IRR will remain true to
the
intent of the RE Act to spur massive investment on clean and
safe renewable energy. Renewable energy and energy efficiency
technologies-not nuclear power-are the genuine solutions to climate
change and energy security."
Other contacts: Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Campaigns Manager for the Philippines,
+63 917 871 5257, 
AC Dimatatac, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Media Assistant Philippines,
+63 917 868 6451, 