The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is pursuing a pre-feasibility study with American firm Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. to develop the technology for a micro-modular reactor the country can use before 2028.
Ultra Safe has designed MMR reactors generating power ranging from 5 to 15 megawatts.
“On the formal feasibility study, we will need to deep dive more on the financial, safety and other very important parameters as well as on the site-specific study like where to install this micro modular reactors,” said Ronnie Aperocho, Meralco executive vice president and chief operating officer, at the sidelines of an earlier briefing the company hosted.
“Of course, along the way, we always work with the policymakers, especially the Department of Energy. We’re very transparent about the studies that we’re doing and they’re part of the next steps, especially on site selection,” Aperocho added.
According to him, the full-scale feasibility study has started and should last six months.
Manuel V. Pangilinan, Meralco chairman and chief executive officer, said the pre-feasibility study already nominated five particular areas subject to further geological evaluation to ensure safety.
“Our goal is to be able to start an operational plant, perhaps in one of the island provinces, to produce power and demonstrate that it’s a safe mode of producing power. We hope to do that certainly well before 2028,” Pangilinan said.
Apart from this, Meralco is also pushing to increase the number of qualified personnel for nuclear energy in the country.
“We have to train our engineers and engineers outside Meralco on nuclear power. You see, the supply of nuclear engineers in this country is quite limited. We have to populate the nuclear engineers in this country from construction and operating standpoints,” Pangilinan said.
Last October, Meralco launched a nuclear education program that support nominees from government and from Meroalco’s third-party engineers who may be educated in the United States, Canada, France and other places where nuclear technology is available.
Aperocho said Meralco will send the first batch of its nuclear scholars to the University of Illinois in Chicago in August or September.
