US wants ‘strong, independent’ nuclear regulatory body in PH

Having a strong, independent regulatory body is 'critical for engendering and maintaining public trust,' says US NRC Chair Christopher Hanson

MANILA, Philippines – The United States seeks to train experts and develop “a strong, technically competent, and independent regulator for nuclear safety in the Philippines,” according to Christopher Hanson, chair of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), on Thursday, July 18.

This comes after the landmark nuclear deal, or the 123 Agreement, between the Philippines and the US took effect last July 2.

The Agreement legally binds the Philippines to US standards on nuclear nonproliferation and allows the US to export nuclear equipment to the country.

“Having a strong, independent regulatory body that is capable of performing the analyses, the safety evaluations, the modeling, and other kinds of things, and clearly communicating that to the public about how the Philippine government has reached its conclusions about the safety of a particular technology is really critical for engendering and maintaining public trust,” Hanson told reporters.

Hanson arrived in the Philippines on Wednesday, July 17, and has so far met with Department of Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin, US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, and Pangasinan 5th District Representative Mark Cojuangco.

The US, in their announcement last July 2, said nuclear energy can help achieve the Philippines’ clean energy targets.

NRC to train nuclear staff

The NRC chair said on Thursday he is also set to meet with staff from the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) and visit the country’s first and only nuclear training facility.

Hanson said there will be “an increase in the activity and support that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is [going to] be providing to the PNRI and… successor organization as the regulatory body.”

“A lot of our support is gonna be in the form of training and in-kind, making available our experts,” he said.

He added that three people from the PNRI will go to the US to take NRC’s nuclear power engineering course later this year.

PNRI is the agency responsible for research and development, as well as regulation of nuclear and radioactive materials.

At present, the bill establishing an independent nuclear regulatory body is pending in the committee level at the Senate.

Last year, lawmakers from the House of Representatives had already approved on third and final reading the Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act. – Rappler.com