On Nov. 16, Philippine Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed an agreement on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in San Francisco, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in attendance, reported Sputnik.
With uncharacteristic optimism, even while giving lip-service to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Blinken said, “With access to U.S. material and equipment, the U.S. and the Philippines will be able to work together to deploy advanced new technologies, including small modular reactors, to support climate goals as well as critical energy security and baseload power needs within the Philippines…In a nation of more than 7,000 islands, small modular reactors—some just the size of a city bus—can generate energy locally and conveniently.”
Sputnik reported: “Under the Philippine Energy Plan, Manila plans to be producing 1,200 MW using nuclear power by 2032, which would increase to 2,400 MW by 2040 and to 4,800 MW by 2050.
“The pact is what is called a Section 123 Agreement by the U.S. Department of Energy and is a legally mandated agreement outlining how the U.S. and the partner nation will share and care for nuclear technology for peaceful purposes within the confines of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
