Atomic/Nuclear Energy (Part 2)

A nation can have economic progress only if it has enough electricity to power its industries, factories and to serve the needs of its people. US and China have the biggest and the second biggest world’s economies. Their electricity is 80% power by coal. They are also number one and two in polluting the environment globally. This year China decided to put their factories in Vietnam to reduce Coal power pollution in its own area. However, Vietnam’s electricity projection is that from 2023 to 2030 it will not be enough for industrial needs and for the ordinary families. Today China is still looking for a nation in Southeast Asia to transfer their factories, and industries.

In September 2022 BBM made his first presidential visit to USA. One of the meetings his team had was with Nuscla Power Corp, which is making small modular reactors (S.M.R) represented in the Philippines by businessman Tycoon Razon. Russia is already using an SMR in the arctic Region to power their HiTech research laboratories. Another U.S firm is working on smaller models called micro atomic modular reactors. Canada’s electricity also uses atomic energy from Canadian deuterium uranium reactor technology.

Our biggest electric power companies are Pangilinan’s Meralco and Aboitiz Power who said they are thinking of using nuclear reactors to create electricity aside from the big heavy polluting coal power plants. By Coincidence? This September the energy dept said they had public consultations regarding the 2023 to 2050 Philippines Energy plan said it included using nuclear energy.

I am against using nuclear energy to create electricity for three reasons:

1. Our nation is part of the Pacific Plate which collides/dams with the Asian continent plate. Because of this, we endure 10 to 15 earthquakes yearly all over the archipelago.
2. The archipelago is criss-crossed by many faults, some on the seas separating islands and some below the Island.

In the 17th century a plus 7 earthquake, flattened Manila and parts of Luzon, Manila’s San Miguel Pro Cathedral and the big beautiful Jesuit San Ignacio Church both in Intramuros were leveled. Only San Miguel Cathedral was rebuilt. Volcanologists think there is a pattern that every 300 to 400 years very strong earthquakes shake Manila Bay.

Atomic reactors use millions of water to cool the reactors from overheating and blowing up. An overheated reactor in Russia’s Chernobyl Power Station caused a big explosion in the 1980s killing many people. Japan’s big Nuclear reactor plant is along Fukushima’s bay so it can use millions of gallons of accessible Free Sea water. In 2011, a strong undersea earthquake created a tsunami that damaged Fukushima’s Reactors. Pipes, Tanks, Valves were damaged releasing thousands of gallons of radioactive water and gas. Today both Chernobyl and Fukushima are still verboten.

PAGASA has a complete record of the number of earthquakes, typhoons and regions and provinces that are hit yearly. Every 5 years, we are hit by super typhoons. The flash floods, erosion of soil, structures toppled by very strong winds could happen anywhere. What if the nuclear reactor is hit by or a typhoon, tsunami, or an earthquake. Please don’t play with our lives. Don’t do it.