Highlights from World Nuclear Supply Chain 2026: Technical Tour

Highlights from World Nuclear Supply Chain 2026: Technical Tour of Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

As part of World Nuclear Supply Chain (WNSC 2026), delegates had the opportunity to tour the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the Philippines

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is a single 621 MWe Westinghouse unit at Napot Point in Bataan. Construction work began in July 1976 and was completed in 1984 at a cost of $1.9 billion. However, due to financial issues and safety concerns related to earthquakes, the plant was never loaded with fuel or operated. Following the April 1986 Chernobyl accident, the recently-elected President Corazon Aquino decided to mothball the plant.

Background

Bataan nuclear power plant, which was referenced several times at WNSC 2026, could become a springboard for a nuclear power programme in the Philippines. In her opening keynote, Sharon Garin, Secretary of the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE), explained why the country is looking again at nuclear. Electricity demand in the Philippines is growing by 6–7% a year. Net energy imports account for 51.5% of total primary energy supply, with 85% of coal and 95% of diesel imported – leaving the economy exposed to global supply disruptions and price volatility. Garin said the global energy crisis had underlined the need for more baseload power, and that the Philippines wants that baseload to be clean.

The government is now “building on lessons from the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, completed in the 1980s but never commissioned,” Garin said. Guided by the IAEA Milestones Approach, the Philippines is strengthening the legal, regulatory and institutional foundations for nuclear power, including the operational readiness of its new regulator, the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilATOM). Its roadmap targets 1200 MW of nuclear capacity by 2032, 2400 MW by 2035 and 4800 MW by 2050, alongside renewable energy targets. Government-to-government cooperation is under way with Japan, the USA, South Korea and Hungary, and Korea is assessing whether Bataan could be rehabilitated and finally brought into operation.

Korea to assess rehabilitation of Philippine plant

Touring the Plant

The visit opened with an orientation and briefing from Bataan staff, who gave delegates an overview of the plant’s history, from its construction through to its mothballing. They also noted that three other plants of a similar Westinghouse design, built around the same time as Bataan, are operating today: Angra 1 in Brazil, Krsko in Slovenia and Kori 2 in South Korea.

Delegates then set off on a walking tour through the plant. The route began in the Primary Area and continued to the Balance of Plant, before moving on to the Nuclear Steam Supply System (NSSS) and up to the Electrical Room. Inside the Containment Building, delegates climbed between levels to reach the reactor core area and the steam generators, then went on to the Fuel Handling Building, the Main Control Room and the Turbine-Generator Hall.

Caption: Delegates from World Nuclear Supply Chain 2026 in front of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant