President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order allowing the government to tap nuclear energy as power source along with other alternate energy sources.
EO 165 allows the conduct of relevant studies for the adoption of a National Position for a Nuclear Energy Program, and constituted the Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC) to oversee its preparation.
“The national government commits to the introduction of nuclear power energy into the state’s energy mix for power generation. The state will ensure the peaceful use of nuclear technology anchored on critical tenets of public safety, national security, energy self¬-sufficiency, and environmental sustainability,” the EO stated.
Under this EO, the national government will have the sole power to assess, review and develop nuclear energy.
“Nuclear power can contribute effectively to the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and has strong potential to decarbonize the power sector,” the EO added.
