Five myths about Bataan Power Plant debunked

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By: Kristine Daguno-Bersamina (philstar.com)

SOCHI, Russia — Sitting atop a 389-hectare government property along the coast of Morong, Bataan, the hulking Bataan Nuclear Power Plant has stood quietly since its construction in the 1980s.

For almost 40 years, the fate of what critics called the "monster" of Morong has been hotly debated.

"We are the first in Southeast Asia to develop power plant but never used it," said Philippine Nuclear Research Institute Director Carlo Arcilla during a round table discussion at the 10th Atomexpo International Forum held in Sochi, Russia.

Atomexpo is a key exhibition event in Russian nuclear industry, organized by Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom.

Arcilla, a geoscientist and geotechnical engineering expert, said it is important to set the facts straight about the first nuclear power plant in the Philippines. 

"We (Filipinos) have suffered so many fake news in nuclear... It's overriding the public perception," he said.

Here are five prevailing myths about the dormant Bataan Nuclear Power Plant that experts debunked.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has certified that there is no fault underneath the mothballed nuclear power plant. 

Philvolcs added that the BNPP was built on a solid foundation of hard rock. 

"While there are publications suggesting faults proximate to the plant, these do not underlie the plant, which would have made the plant inoperable," the PNRI chief said.

The proximity of the suspected faults, according to Arcilla, will require proof of the following:  

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• That the faults are active
• The maximum earthquake that can come from such active fault cannot be withstood by the 0.4g seismic design of the BNPP. The 0.4g design means that the whole nuclear structure can withstand ground acceleration at 4 meters/second/second, or 40 percent the acceleration due to gravity. 

BNPP was built on the eruptive products on the flanks of Mount Natib but not on the crater of the volcano, Arcilla noted. 

Since Mount Natib is a dormant volcano, Philvolcs dismissed possible hazards pertinent to BNPP's location such as volcanic eruption.

"For perspective, practically the whole of Metro Manila is built partially on pyroclastic flows (adobe) from Laguna de Bay caldera, which is much younger than Natib," Arcilla said.

"Laguna de Bay is not an active volcano, and Metro Manila is not built on a volcano," he added.

Since the length of the Manila trench is shorter than Japan's, experts say that the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that occurred close to the Fukushima plant "will probably not happen" in the Philippines. 

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Mindanao in 1876 is the strongest that hit the country.

Arcilla emphasized that the earthquake did not destroy the Fukushima plant, Japan's oldest nuclear power plant.

Part of the disaster was the complete breakdown of the Fukushima plant after it was swamped by a tsunami produced by the earthquake.

The tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling systems of three Fukushima reactors, resulting to the release of radioactive materials to its surroundings. 

The PNRI chief said that the accident could have been prevented had the operator followed an earlier advice to move its diesel engines for cooling at higher grounds.

"In contrast, BNPP elevation is 18 meters above sea level, which is higher than the 14-meter tsunami that happened in Japan. In addition, all the 420 plus nuclear power plants in the world have made redundant systems so that the loss of cooling will not be repeated. These lessons will be implemented if the BNPP is rehabilitated," he added.   

Philippines' first nuclear power plant has at least three working sister plants which are very profitable and has been safely operating for 40 years. 

These include Angra in Brazil, Krsko in Slovenia and Kori2 in Korea. 

The said nuclear power plants "have more than recovered their investments and have upgraded to the latest operational standards," Arcilla noted.

Though the BNPP was never used, its nuclear core is still sound based on the recent evaluations made by the Korea Electric Power Corp. and Rosatom.

"The main challenge in rehabilitating BNPP is financial because of the replacements of ancillary parts like the steam generator and turbines, among others," the PNRI chief said.

Arcilla explained that the BNPP was built to withstand a seismic load of  0.4 g. Japan's Fukushima plant had a peak horizontal ground acceleration of 0.12g only.  

This is more than twice that of the Fukushima plant and with upgrades to prevent repeat of the nuclear accident, he noted.  

"Japan has similar geologic conditions in the Philippines and has at least 50 nuclear plants; Taiwan is also similarly tectonically active and has at least 4 NPPs, and Krsko is the only seismically designed NPP in western Europe," Arcilla said. 

He assured that BNPP's containment structure was designed to resist the crashlanding of a large wide body aircraft. 

Bataan agricultural fair features ...

...longest, biggest fruits, veggies

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By Philippine News Agency

Bataan’s Provincial Agriculture Office opened Wednesday an agri-trade fair featuring the longest and biggest fruits and vegetables produced in the province.

(via 1bataan website / MANILA BULLETIN)

The office showcased the “pinaka” or “the most” — the longest bunch of ornamental and commercial bananas; the biggest coconut, kamoteng kahoy (cassava), papaya, squash, kamote (sweet potato), ube (purple yam), and gabi (taro); and longest string bean, ginger, upo (bottle gourd), okra (lady finger), and sili (chili pepper), among others.

“The Provincial Agriculture Office has been holding this fair annually to inspire and encourage the farmers to join in the programs and to produce the best products,” Louie Rodis, provincial agriculturist, said.

“The sizes of fruits and vegetables are not ordinary, excess in standard size,” Rodis said, adding that the participants in the “pinaka” contest will be awarded prizes.

She described the purple yam as the best, noting that its size “is not a standard one”, which she attributed to proper land preparation and the use of organic fertilizer.

Ube can be harvested after six to 10 months of planting.

Various agriculture products and equipment are also on sale in the one-week agri-trade fair.

A world without fossil fuels?

SAT, NOVEMBER 18, 2017 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

A world without  fossil fuels?

As today's Editoral in MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR (November 17, 2017)  goes: "President Duterte has changed heart and now gave the Department of Energy the green light to consider plans to reactivate the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. This after the Philippine and Russian governments agreed to cooperate in the development of national nuclear infrastructure in the country... ."

Allow me to ask: Is it possible to fulfill all our global energy needs with renewables only? And which technologies work best to help us transition to a world without fossil fuels? Scientists give answers at COP23, which is still ongoing in Bonn/Germany at this moment.

"A full decarbonization of the electricity system by 2050 is possible for lower system cost than today based on available technology," said Christian Breyer, who heads a team of international researchers at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in Finland.

Breyer and his team looked at data from all over the world, such as energy consumption, demographic development and weather. They also analyzed which technologies are expected to be the cheapest in the next three decades.

"Energy transition is no longer a question of technical feasibility or economic viability, but of political will," Breyer added. Breyer's team and NGO Energy Watch Group (EWG) presented their findings at COP23 in Bonn.

And I learned: falling costs give rise to solar power. Why? Due to rapidly falling costs, solar photovoltaic (solar PV) and battery storage are the main drivers of securing the global energy supply. Solar PV's share of total power supply is expected to rise from 37 percent in 2030 to almost 70 percent by 2050, the study said.

Wind energy would make up 18 percent, hydropower 8 percent and bioenergy 2 percent of the total global energy mix by 2050, according to the scientists' estimates.

The energy mix would of course look slightly different in areas with a lot of wind and fewer hours of sunshine, such as in Europe's and Asia's northern regions. 

  

And here are several Germany's climate innovators: A sunny future for e-cars? To guarantee access to electricity day and night reliable storage is of course a must. According to Breyer's simulation, about 30 percent of overall demand in 2050 will be met by storage output and 95 percent of that, in turn, will be covered by batteries alone. The study's authors have calculated with a global population of almost 10 billion people by 2050 - that means the world's hunger for power is expected to double as a result.

Twice as many new jobs? Maybe These changes are obviously helping with air quality and overall a more healthy environment, but they also help with jobs. At the moment, there are about 19 million people who are employed in the energy sector - half of those are working for the coal industry. These jobs will be made redundant by the transition to renewables; however, twice as many new jobs would be created as a result, according to estimates.

Huge strides towards cutting down emissions - another headline nowadays!  At COP23 in Bonn, delegates are trying to come up with ways to reduce carbon emissions to limit global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and help mitigate climate disasters.

Global energy production - especially coal - contributes to 20 percent of all carbon emissions. If the electricity system were to only be powered by renewables, emissions could drop by 60 percent by 2025. By 2030, they could drop by 80 percent.

"Such a scenario is indeed realistic, since renewable energy sources are becoming cheaper and cheaper," said climate economist Claudia Kemfert of the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin (DIW) when the study was released.

Now, is it utopia or realistic scenario?

"We've seen in the past that all studies did underestimate the development of renewable energy. That's why it's going so much quicker than anticipated and we are looking ahead to the next three decades, where we can meet the target of 100 percent renewables in our energy mix," Claudia Kemfert added.

Energy Watch Group head Hans-Josef Fell agrees with that assessment and says the finance sector also plays a huge role in accelerating this dynamic. "Financial institutions now regard investments in coal, nuclear, oil and gas as risky and terminate their commitments," he said.

Renewable energy sources are regarded as safe alternatives. That is a fact!

"This scenario is essentially the basis if we want to fulfill international responsibilities as laid out by the Paris agreement," said Stefan Gsänger of the World Wind Energy Association. But he was also quick to point out that this is by no means a market-driven self-seller. "I hope we'll build up enough pressure on political decision makers all over the world," he added.

European Member of Parliament Arne Lietz of the Social Democrats says there is still a huge deficit.

"This scenario shows that we must urgently rethink current politics," he said. "But politics are not there yet." Lietz added that "big lobbyists trying to influence the government to keep investing into fossil fuels and ruin economies" were blocking efforts.

Back to nuclear power - and please allow me again to quote today's MIRROR-Editorial:  After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine back in 1986 all governments should really think twice and act with caution.