Bataan LGU pushes conversion of Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) into PH biggest data center

It was disclosed by Bataan’s Governor, Hon. Jose Enrique S. Garcia III in a recent 2022 Climate Change and Sustainability Summit last August 17, 2022, that the moth-balled Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is now planned to be the Philippines’ biggest data center.

Based on the report of Greg Refraccion of 1Bataan, the Governor of Bataan reiterated the stand of the Provincial Government of Bataan remains, that instead of 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 biggest data center.

One of the reasons why BNPP is planned to be converted into a Data Center is because of its very secure structure and its water cooling provision which is really needed for Data centers.

Gov. Garcia further explained that the national government is open and looking into small and modular reactors which is now a trend in the Western countries and it has a lower buffer zone which is estimated around 800 meters to 1km only unlike regular Nuclear Power Plants.

Image | Governor Joet Garcia

Bataan’s Governor also cited an example using a Toyota Corolla model: “If you’ll choose a 1985 model vs a 2022 Toyota Corolla model, which do you prefer?” Of course, everyone will choose the latest model which has the latest technology and more updated safety gear, similar to BNPP which is an old model, we will also choose a newer structure based on the latest trends for Nuclear energy which is more up to date in terms of technology and safety standards.

There’s still no final decision regarding what will happen with BNPP but its reactivation is still a heated debate so stay tuned for more updates.

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