Realizing the greater need for a more stable power supply as the country steps closer to its first automated elections on May 10, senatorial bets of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) vowed Friday to author a law reactivating the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant once elected.

Former Rep. Apolinario "Jun" Lozada emphasized the clear need for power coming from other sources like nuclear energy, which he said is being utilized by many Asian and European countries to produce electricity.

"I am in favor of reactivating it for as long as it conforms with the standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) because we are party to the international agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Lozada told reporters.

"The main purpose for us to reactivate it is to meet the energy needs of our people, no more, no less," the former legislator from Negros Occidental added.

Lozada issued the statement after fears were raised that the recurring power outages nationwide would last until the automated election period, which may eventually lead to a failure of elections.

A physicist, Lozada worked as an inspector for the IAEA, the United Nations body supervising the peaceful usage of nuclear power plants all over the world, at the time when the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was put up by former President Ferdinand Marcos.

When the late Corazon "Cory" Aquino assumed as president after Marcos was toppled in 1986, she immediately shut down the BNPP for fear of its harmful effects.

"I have seen how the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant has really been built, has been inspected, and has been approved by the IAEA, but I think politics has got into the picture and the issues were muddled," Lozada told reporters.

The former Negros Occidental congressman also expressed concern that negative impressions against nuclear power could keep the country lagging behind in Asia in terms of technology and will continue suffering from power operators' unending overcharging in domestic electric rates.

For his part, re-electionist Sen. Francisco "Kit" Tatad called on scientists to discuss the issue of reactivating the controversial power plant, which cost P2 billion to build only to gather dust during the past three decades.

"I think the scientists should really dominate the debate about this issue rather than the politicians because we need to go full blast in developing alternative sources of energy. Many countries are going solar, wind, even the waves," Tatad said.

"The political choice should be dictated by science, good economics; the safety and environmental protection are important. They should not be prejudiced even if we decide to go nuclear," he added.