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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-10/bnpp-sm.webp" alt="Bataan Nuclear Power Plant" loading="lazy" />
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(Inside the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant)
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The idea supposedly came from Eugenio Lopez, Sr., who would later become his arch-enemy. Lopez conveyed it to a loyal political ally, Senator Lorenzo Tañada, who worked for the passage of R.A. No. 5207, or the Atomic Energy Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968 only to inexplicably call his sponsored law <i>"a project of monumental corruption, greed and folly."</i>
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Sensing that Marcos intended to push through with the project that would allow the country to make a great leap forward, he issued P.D. No. 1484 amending certain sections of R.A. No. 5207 titled <i>"an Act providing for the licensing and regulation of atomic energy facilities and materials, establishing the rules on liability for nuclear damage"</i>, on June 11, 1978. It was the National Power Corporation that negotiated the contract to purchase the nuclear power machinery and equipment at a base price of $329 million. Later, it was decided that Westinghouse would also design the nuclear steam supply, construct civil works, erect and test electro-mechanical equipment, manage construction and provide training services. The total cost for the equipment and services amounted to $562 million, at a September 1974 base price.
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Since the delivery of the equipment and services would take about seven years, the base price was subject to escalation clause. Interest during the construction period added a substantial amount to the total cost of the project. The financing charges were estimated at $266 million.
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There were actually two sources for the project loan, which originally amounted to $1.109 billion. For the purchase of nuclear technology (equipment, materials, and fuel), NPC obtained a loan of $644.4 million (or 59.44 percent of the total cost) from the US Eximbank, the only financing institution authorized by the US government to purchase nuclear technology.
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Besides paying Westinghouse, NPC also had to undertake site selection and preparation, fuel procurement and contracting for fabrication and shipment, transmission facilities, insurance, etc., all of which were estimated to cost $166 million.
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Based on the original design, the estimated total cost for the project until its completion in 1983 was $1.109 billion, broken down into foreign exchange costs of $833 million, and costs worth $266 million. All in all, NPC incurred additional project costs estimated at $844 million, broken down into the following components:
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The mothballing of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was a criminal conspiracy