Call to Philippines government to reject nuclear power, and implement the Renewable Energy Law

The group is also calling on the Philippine government to commit to
fully implement the Renewable Energy Law to achieve 50 percent
renewable energy in the country’s energy mix by 2020.

Greenpeace slams DOE chief’s plan to revive nuclear power program
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/331337/greenpeace-slams-doe-chiefs-plan-to-revive-nuclear-power-program
By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
December 28th, 2012 MANILA, Philippines — The
environmentalist organization Greenpeace has asked Energy Secretary
Carlos Jericho Petilla to abandon his department’s plans to revive the
use of nuclear energy in the Philippines.

The group said it was shocked at the Department of Energy’s recent
proposal to revive the use of nuclear energy to power the country as
“this plan goes against global trends as far as safety is concerned.”
“Worldwide, the nuclear industry is declining having failed to
establish itself as a clean, cheap, safe or reliable energy source.

The DOE’s new proposal to implement a national nuclear power program
in the energy reform agenda is utter madness,” said Anna Abad, climate
and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
“Nuclear energy cannot be good for the country as Secretary Petilla
claims, because nuclear power is neither safe nor clean. No amount of
technological sophistication or safety culture can prepare any country
or its people to the inherent dangers of nuclear energy,” she said in
a statement.
President Benigno Aquino III has publicly declared that he is against
the revival of the controversial Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Petilla,
however, said his department was already looking into nuclear projects
to attract local and foreign investors.
No nuclear proposals are currently tabled in Congress, although the
Philippine Energy Plan still contains provisions for nuclear energy.
The Energy Reform Agenda directs the DOE to conduct research and
studies in aid of legislative and executive action for the operation
of a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant by 2025. Just look at what
happened in Ukraine, and very recently in Japan. Has Secretary Petilla
completely forgotten about the Fukushima tragedy, the world’s worst
human-made disaster to date?” Abad said.
“His short sighted plan to put profit above people’s safety could put
millions at risk. If a nuclear disaster cannot be prevented from
happening in rich, technologically advanced nations like Japan, then
what might happen in our county?” she added.
The Aquino administration, according to Greenpeace, has wasted several
years pushing for dirty sources of energy such as coal and nuclear.
“The government must ensure sustainable development with a future
powered by clean and safe renewable energy, rather than dangerous
nuclear, or dirty coal power,” it said.
Greenpeace is advocating an “energy revolution,” which it describes as
a “sustainable pathway for renewable energy, coupled with energy
efficiency technologies, to become country’s energy backbone.”
The group is also calling on the Philippine government to commit to
fully implement the Renewable Energy Law to achieve 50 percent
renewable energy in the country’s energy mix by 2020.