NUCLEAR ENERGY will play a “pivotal” role in augmenting the country’s power supply and will help in accomplishing the administration’s long-term vision of lifting most Filipinos into the middle class by 2040, an Energy department official said on Monday.

“The Philippines has always viewed nuclear energy as a long-term option for power generation that will provide supply security, stability and reliability,” said Department of Energy (DoE) Undersecretary Donato D. Marcos in a speech delivered at a seminar on nuclear energy and radioactive sources.

“Should this be the path that the country will take, nuclear further diversifies our existing generation mix comprised of coal, natural gas, geothermal, hydropower, oil, wind, biomass and solar,” he said.

The seminar, which is closed to media, opened on Monday and has representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as participants. It ends on Wednesday.

Mr. Marcos’ statement serves to bolster the department’s stance of being “technology- and resource-neutral” in ensuring energy security and sufficiency.

“Owing to its baseload characteristics, nuclear energy will be in support to the thrust of the Philippine Government which is the realization of the Philippine Development Plan’s (PDP) drive for industrialization and urbanization. It is central for a country towards the path of development to have the available and required capacity to meet the nation’s increasing demand requirements,” said Mr. Marcos, who was designated chairman of the DoE’s newly formed Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Office (NEPIO).

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