Meralco readies study on small nuclear reactors

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January 6, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Power giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) plans to start a US-backed nuclear study as early as this month to assess the feasibility of deploying small modular reactors (SMRs) in the Philippines.

Meralco, chaired by tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan, is set to undertake the SMR adoption study in coordination with the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

The company, which recently received a $2.7-million grant from the USTDA, targets issuing the request for proposals this month to select a contractor for the study.

“The study is expected to commence during the first quarter this year and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter,” Meralco told the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors capable of generating up to 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity or about one-third of conventional nuclear plants’ capacity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Meralco executive vice president and COO Ronnie Aperocho has said the company is “ideally” looking at SMRs due to their manageable size.

The challenge, however, is that SMRs are still a relatively new technology.

Under Philippine law, the country where the technology originated must first demonstrate at least two years of safe, incident-free operation before it can be adopted locally.

“We don’t want to be the guinea pigs,” Aperocho said.

While completing the SMR adoption study, Meralco also intends to evaluate potential locations across the Philippines for nuclear plant development.

This will be conducted in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) and other relevant agencies.

As early as October this year, Meralco aims to shortlist key sites for consideration by the DOE and the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilAtom).

PhilAtom, the independent nuclear body set to assume all regulatory tasks currently managed by the PNRI, was created under Republic Act 12305 signed by President Marcos last year.

The creation of PhilAtom is a vital step in ensuring that all aspects of nuclear energy development are rigorously and effectively regulated by a competent authority.

This bodes well for the country’s bold target of harnessing at least 1,200 MW of nuclear power into the energy mix by 2032 and scaling this up to 4,800 MW by 2040.