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Generating controversy

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As the Philippines faces up to the possibility of an energy shortage by 2012, an aggressive lobby group is pushing for the inconceivable - awakening the 'Morong Monster'.

That's what a senator once called the unused Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), a legacy of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The concrete colossus, located on the west coast of Morong town in Bataan province, 77km west of Manila, has two dubious distinctions: it's the first atomic generator built in Southeast Asia and the first never to be used. A year after it was completed in 1985, it was ordered to be mothballed because of defects. The 620-megawatt reactor has been cold and silent for nearly a quarter of a century.

That may be about to change. Two weeks ago, congressman Mark Cojuangco lobbied fellow legislators to appropriate US$1 billion to get the plant up and running. He's worked overtime getting support for his House Bill 4631, 'mandating the immediate recommissioning and commercial operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant'.

Mr Cojuangco wants the plant switched on because 'nuclear-generated power can be a tremendous help to the country'.

'We will have a power shortage of 3,000 megawatts in 2012 - that equates to 24-hour rolling brownouts and a big loss of jobs,' he warned.

He's not alone in his advocacy. Last month, the government announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Electric Power Corporation, which operates plants identical to the one at Bataan.

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