WISE - NIRS Nuclear Monitor 587

NIRS and WISE both celebrate their 25th anniversaries this year. This is the seventh article in a series, "25 years ago", comparing anti-nuclear news "then" and "now", to mark our first quarter-century of anti-nuclear campaigning.

Then
In issue 2 of WISE Bulletin we wrote about the struggle against the planned Bataan NPP in the Philippines: "At Morong, in Bataan Province, Philippines, Westinghouse is building a 620 MWe nuclear power plant that is a model of how to sell nukes to the third world. [...] In the Bataan province, 25,000 people signed a petition against the plant, but martial law under the Marcos dictatorship prevents effective opposition. On April 27 1978 there was an international day of protest against the Philippine reactor, with demos in San Francisco, New York, Tokyo and in the Netherlands". (WISE Bulletin 2, July 1978)

Now
Dictator Marcos' plans for nuclear energy started in 1973, which would consist of at least 11 reactors of 600 MW each. Construction work at Bataan started in 1974. There was broad opposition against the Bataan reactor both in the Philippines as well as in other countries. Over 50,000 Pilipinos dared, in the face of martial law, to sign a petition demanding the plant's cancellation. In the US, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission was asked to deny Westinghouse's application for an export license of the reactor. This failed however and Westinghouse was granted a license in May 1980. (The Nuclear Fix; a Guide to Nuclear Activities in the Third World, WISE, 1982)

After the 1979 Harrisburg accident, construction work on Bataan was halted and an inquiry on safety issues showed 4,000 defects in the reactor under construction. Two months after the Marcos regime had fallen the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 meant another setback for the project. The new Aquino administration mothballed the project in August 1986.

But in 1992 Aquino developed new plans to finish Bataan and proposed to settle a number of financial issues with Westinghouse. These proposals were rejected by the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives later. Next president Ramos even tried to revive the whole nuclear energy option, when he announced plans in May 1995 to construct several new NPPs with projections of up to 25,000 MW in 2020. (WISE News Communique 499/500.4935: "The continuing struggle for a nuclear-free Philippines")

Successful opposition prevented the opening of the Bataan reactor. But camapigning work of Philippines' anti-nuclear groups still continue as their government is still continuing with the 1995 adopted plans to build new reactors in the future.

WISE-Amsterdam/NIRS

ISSN: 0889-3411

Editorial team: Stuart Field, Robert Jan van den Berg (WISE Amsterdam), Michael Mariotte (NIRS). With contributions from Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, Greenpeace Finland, Irati Wanti and Réseau Sortir du nucléaire.

Reproduction of this material is encouraged. Please give credit when reprinting.

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