MANILA -- Meralco’s rollout of small modular reactors (SMRs) or micro nuclear power plants may be delayed from the initial target of 2028 to 2030.

Meralco Chairman and CEO Manny Pangilinan said he just came from Busan, South Korea where he met with potential partners in building the SMRs for Meralco. Though he did not reveal the exact reason for the possible delay, he said that based on their talk, Meralco may not be able to get the SMR in four years as initially planned.

“I’m not a nuclear person pero (but) my sense in terms of our discussion with them it will be slightly delayed. Hopefully no later than 2030,” said Pangilinan.

The International Atomic Energy Agency described SMRs as advanced nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of up to 300 MW per unit or about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear reactors.

Pangilinan however added that they are also talking with American companies to help in the company’s nuclear direction. In the meantime, he also hoped to start even with just a much smaller nuclear reactor.

“We’re trying to procure a proof of concept plan, even 1 MW or 2 MW, that we can build and operate in the Philippines so that our people can learn and operate one in preparation for hopefully a bigger deployment of nuclear power in the country,” he said.

NEW NUCLEAR ENGINEERS

Meralco also introduced the pilot batch of scholars under its Filipino Scholars and Interns on Nuclear Engineering (FISSION) program. The five engineers selected are Amiela Nicodemus, Gener Atienza, Kenneth Tulagan, Mark Justin Salas, and Marc Laurence Ceria.

They will take a two-year nuclear engineering program and an internship in top nuclear technology firms. The two will study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne in the US, and the other three will study at Harbin Engineering University in China.

Pangilinan said once the scholars finish their studies, they will return to the Philippines to help the country with the planned nuclear program. He asserted that the country needs more energy sources, and nuclear is a good option.

“We’d like to explore the viability of deploying nuclear power especially since we are an archipelago and several of the island provinces really need power on their own,” he said.