U.S. and Philippines Sign Nuclear Cooperation Pact

Agreement to Bolster Philippines' Power Supply and Support Climate Goals

The United States and the Philippines have signed a nuclear cooperation pact, known as a Section 123 agreement, allowing U.S. investment and technologies to help the Philippines transition to cleaner energy and bolster its power supply.
The agreement was signed by the Philippine energy secretary and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. witnessing the signing.
The Philippines has set an ambitious target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030 and expects its peak energy demand to quadruple by 2040. Nuclear energy is expected to help meet these needs in a sustainable way.
The agreement will allow the U.S. and the Philippines to work together to deploy advanced new technologies, including small modular reactors, to support climate goals as well as critical energy security and baseload power needs within the Philippines.
The Philippines began building a nuclear generating plant, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, in the 1970s but it was never completed due to concerns about its cost and safety, including its location near a major fault and the Pinatubo volcano.