DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER IN THE PHILIPPINES… AGREE OR DISAGREE?

" It's very important that we have an effective way to communicate with the public the seriousness of a nuclear accident." - Scott Burnell, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Spokesman

Here is a list of the TOP 5 Major Nuclear Accidents in the World. This can help us to know the possible causes and effect of pursuing the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

Chernobyl, Soviet Union now Ukraine (April 26, 1986)

Cause: The reactor was supposed to be powered down to 25 percent of capacity but it fell to less than one percent

Effect: full-blown nuclear meltdown, 47 of those were plant workers and 9 children died of thyroid cancer

Kyshtym, Soviet Union now Russia (Sept. 29, 1957)

Cause: The storage facility began to overheat, and a cooler was soon added, but it was poorly constructed. The cooling system in a tank containing about 70 tons of radioactive waste failed, and the temperature started to rise.

Effect:  Non-nuclear explosion of dried waste, deaths of 200 people due to cancer

Windscale Fire, Great Britain (Oct. 10, 1957)

Cause: Operators noticed that the reactor's temperature was steadily rising and they discovered it was engulfed in flames.

Effect: 200 people in Britain developed cancer, deaths because radiation

Three Mile Island, United States (March 28, 1979)

Cause: Simple plumbing break down, this caused cooling water to drain and the core began to overheat.

Effect: Only one person outside of the nuclear plant was found to have any radiation in his system after the incident.

Tokaimura, Japan (Sept. 30, 1999)

Cause: The operators had not been trained in how to handle uranium that was so highly enriched.

Effect: Two of the three operators working with the uranium died of radiation and less than a hundred workers and people who lived nearby were hospitalized for exposure to radiation.

       Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) was constructed in 1976 and is located on a 3.57 square kilometer at the foot of Mt. Natib in Morong, Bataan at the time of President Ferdinand Marcos. Three years after, the Three Mile Island accident happened and cause government to put action and stop the construction. On the time of President Corazon Aquino, they had found out that there are 4,000 defects in its design and construction and consider the harm that it may bring because it is nearly located at the major earthquake fault lines and close to Mt. Pinatubo.

       On July 2008, a proposal of reviving the BNPP arised. But there are protests against it especially the residents of Central Luzon. The Department of Energy through the National Power Corporation with the Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) then conducted a feasibility study on the possible revival of the BNPP. And now, there is still an ongoing debate towards this issue.

        It is but nice and cost friendly to have a nuclear power plant in our country but there are things that we should consider. It may cost us less for our electricity consumption, but we should not risk lives of our people because of an unexamined decision. Safety is an issue here. If we check the accidents in the nuclear power plant of the above countries, we will see that the accidents are effects of mishandling and improper training and the effects are inevitable. They have risk thousands of lives just for their sake.  Not only the nuclear radiation is harmful but also the waste it will produce. It can cause harm to our natural resources. I, being a resident of Bataan is also not in favor of reviving the BNPP because of the possible harm it may bring to us. For me, I would have not wanted to waste the cost of construction of this plant instead I think it is more useful if the government will utilize it and make another option of using this to help our economy. Now, it has been a tourist attraction. But I hope that the government will come up to a better idea than only making it as an attraction.

Source: 

       http://news.discovery.com/tech/top-five-nuclear-disasters.html

Thanks for Reading! :)