MANILA, Philippines – Inaprubahan na ng House Ways and Means Committee ang substitute bill pra sa Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act.
Ayon kay House Way and Means Committee Chairman Joey Salceda, ang panukala ay magbibigay-daan para mag-establisa ang bansa ng Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority, pangunahing mandato nito ay bumuo ng komprehensibong legal framework para sa radiation safety gayundin ang pagtatakda ng standard para sa nuclear energy.
Ang nasabing panukala ay inakda nina House Committee on Nuclear Energy Chairman Mark Cojuangco at Pampanga Rep Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“it is high time to finally provide for a guiding framework to harness nuclear energy in the country. Let’s stop scaring ourselves and let the science and history guide our decisions on nuclear energy.”pahayag ni Salceda.
Umaasa si Salceda na sa kasalukuyang administrasyon ay mapagtitibay ang batas para sa nuclear energy.
“Import dependence on coal and oil, the long-term effects of fossil fuel consumption on health and climate, the instability of other energy sources, as well as the land area needed by most renewable sources all point to nuclear as a necessary. Nuclear can produce energy for as low as P1.50 per kilowatt-hour in generating costs,” dagdag pa ni Salceda.
Naiintindihan umano niya ang mga kritisismo sa nuclear energy subalit maraming paraan para magawa itong ligtas.
“Nuclear energy cannot be a yes-or-no question, where we simply choose to completely ignore it forever. If the question is safety, what we must ask ourselves is how to make nuclear energy safe, not to abandon it altogether,” giit pa nito.
Dagdag pa ni Salceda na dahil sa paggamit ng fossil fuel ay nasa 11,000 hanggang 27,000 ang premature deaths kada taon subalit kung paguusapan ang nuclear pollution ay maaaring 1 death lang ang maitatala sa loob ng 33 taon.
“Just below solar energy, it is the safest form of energy,” pagtatapos pa ni Salceda. Gail Mendoza
