Greenpeace on PH-South Korea nuclear deal: Stop nuclear deals, focus on RE

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (9 October 2024) — Greenpeace Philippines today denounced the signing of an agreement to conduct a feasibility study on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) between the Philippines and South Korea. Reacting to the PH-South Korea agreement, Greenpeace Philippines campaigner, Khevin Yu said:

“We have to reiterate time and again that agreements like these are not for the best interest of the Philippines. Nuclear power is still the most expensive, most dangerous, and dirtiest way to generate electricity—no agreement will change that.

“These nuclear deals that the Philippine government is getting into will only be highly favorable to a few—governments and a number of companies profiting from nuclear energy. On top of capital costs and operations, handling and storage of radioactive nuclear waste, as well as costs for dismantling and decommissioning are in the range of billions of dollars and are passed on as a burden to the government and to current and future generations of Filipinos. .

“Nuclear disasters are realities that are intrinsically linked to any form of nuclear energy technology. This puts Filipino lives in harm’s way for the sake of generating electricity from nuclear energy. At the same time, the costs of damages from a nuclear accident, as well as costs for the final repository of nuclear waste, will not be shouldered by the private company but by the government.

“There is no need for any agreement or deals on nuclear energy. The Philippines can achieve energy sovereignty with renewable energy, such as wind and solar, which are already domestically available. We call on President Marcos Jr. and his administration to focus more on developing these renewable energy sources. This should be their priority and they must repeal all of the unfavorable nuclear deals for the sake of Filipinos.”