President Rodrigo Roa Duterte expressed his desire for the next administration to explore nuclear energy as a possible alternative energy source for the Philippines on Monday night.

In his prerecorded Talk to the People, Duterte said his successor should study nuclear power due to the country’s over-reliance on imported crude oil, which has since been jeopardized by the impacts of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“I hope that the next administration would at least explore now the possibility of itong nuclear…Tutal ang nagumpisa nito noon si Marcos. Nagpagawa siya ng nuclear plant,” he said, referring to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), a project of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., which is currently decommissioned on account of safety and corruption concerns.

“You know oil is not infinite, may katapusan ‘yan . Someday it will dry up, it will be good for any government to prepare the possibility of making the transition from oil, yung fossil fuel, to nuclear,” he added.

However, Duterte also recognized the unease surrounding nuclear power following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, whose explosion and radioactive leak led to hundreds of casualties.

“Kaya lang medyo delikado ‘to. You know kagaya ng sa Chernobyl ng Ukraine nagkaroon ng leak and so there was this radiation. Mabuti na lang all nations contributed to the control or fixing the Chernobyl including Russia, which is now attacking Ukraine,” he said.

In February, Duterte signed Executive Order No. 164 to establish a Nuclear Energy Program in the country.

The EO also requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and implement the Nuclear Energy Program as part of the Philippine Energy Plan, as well as to coordinate with the Nuclear Energy Program-Inter-Agency Committee (NEP-IAC) in fulfilling its mandate.

Earlier, presumptive President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son and namesake of Marcos Sr., said he was looking into reviving BNPP, citing it was shuttered for political reasons, “not because of any scientific reason”.