The Mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is Now Planned to Be the Philippines’ Biggest Data Center, as was revealed by Bataan’s Governor, Hon. Jose Enrique S. Garcia III in a recent 2022 Climate Change and Sustainability Summit last August 17, 2022.
According to Greg Refraccion of 1Bataan, the Governor of Bataan reiterated the Provincial Government of Bataan’s position that, rather than reviving the 40-year-old nuclear power plant, why not convert BNPP (Bataan Nuclear Power Plant) into a Cloud Computing Facility that will serve as the country’s largest data center.
One of the reasons why BNPP is being transformed into a Data Center is because of its extremely secure structure and water cooling service, both of which are critical for Data Centers.
Gov. Garcia went on to say that the national government is interested in tiny and modular reactors, which are becoming popular in Western countries, and that they have a reduced buffer zone, which is believed to be 800 meters to 1 kilometer only, as opposed to traditional nuclear power plants.
The Governor of Bataan also used a Toyota Corolla model as an example: “Would you want a 1985 model or a 2022 Toyota Corolla model?” Of course, everyone will choose the most recent model with the most recent technology and more updated safety equipment. Similarly to the BNPP, which is an older model, we will choose a newer structure based on the most recent trends for Nuclear energy that is more up to date in terms of technology and safety standards.
There is currently no definitive decision on what will happen with BNPP, but its reactivation is still a contentious issue, so stay tuned for further information.