IT'S A DEAL: Philippine Department of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and Russian Federation State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) Deputy Director General Nikolay Spassky exchange the signed documents of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) in front of witnesses, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The MOC seals the nuclear cooperation program between Russia and the Philippines that will enable the country to come up with national policies for the development of safe and secure power generation practices through nuclear energy.
(Manila, Philippines). The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Russian Federation State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) agreed on a nuclear cooperation program under a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed on 13 November 2017 on the sidelines of the 12th East Asia Summit held in Manila.
“The cooperation with Russia is part of the government’s intention to develop a variety of applications of nuclear energy that are within our policies, particularly for power generation,” Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said.
“Through this MOC, we can tap the significant experience of Russia in harnessing nuclear energy and the emerging technologies related to it for peaceful purposes that is safe and secure,” Cusi pointed out.
The undertakings in the MOC, he said, would support the Philippines in coming up with a national position and the crafting of a nuclear energy policy that may lead to a nuclear energy program.
The Philippines and Russian Federation will cooperate in several areas under the agreement.
One, nuclear infrastructure studies towards national energy policy development and nuclear energy program implementation in the Philippines.
Two, audit and assessment of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant’s (BNPP) technical condition, including the option of its rehabilitation.
And three, feasibility studies on construction in the Philippines of small modular nuclear power plants, onshore or offshore, but not limited to analysis of technical, commercial, financial and legal aspects.
The two Parties may also carry out similar studies on nuclear power plants in general as may be deemed necessary and consistent with national energy development plans and policies of the Philippines.
The cooperation will be implemented in the form of joint working groups that will undertake specific projects and tasks; exchange of experts; workshops; training and education of personnel; and sharing of technical information.
The MOC will run for five years and is renewable for the same period, unless one Party notifies the other in writing through diplomatic channels of its intention to suspend or terminate the same.
The Philippines and the Russian Federation are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and are parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of July 1, 1968.