Modular nuclear power plants are being explored by the Philippines as a new clean energy source, according to Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez.
Interviewed on television, Romualdez said the US has offered power plants that are being rapidly created.
“So we are seriously going to look into it. I think President (Ferdinand “Bongbong”) Marcos is quite excited about it. As a matter of fact, I think NuScale which is a company developing this technology is now having a partnership with the local energy company here in the Philippines,” he said.
“Hopefully, President Marcos will be able to meet with the NuScale if and when he goes to the United States to do this further.”
Romualdez clarified that the modular power plants are different from the Bataan nuclear plant.
“The modular nuclear power plants are very small in nature and they say that they are even easier to install,” he said.
“I’m told by those developing it that it really is quite the way of the future as far as clean energy is concerned.”
Marcos has expressed his support for incorporating nuclear energy into the nation’s energy mix.
The advanced compact modular reactors now being developed in the US represent a variety of sizes, technology options, capabilities, and deployment scenarios, according to the US Office of Nuclear Energy.
These cutting-edge reactors, which are expected to range in size from tens to hundreds of megawatts, can be utilized for desalination, electricity generation, and other industrial purposes.
Light water or other non-light water coolants, such as a gas, liquid metal, or molten salt, may be used in SMR designs in place of light water as a coolant.
Small modular reactors may generate a power capacity of up to 300 megawatts of energy per unit, about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.