Kapaligiran

Paje instructs NWRB to come up to a new dam management protocol, Scientific bases on whether or not to activate BNPP and FPRDI bamboo flattening machine shows promise

Posted on October 24th By estrella z gallardo, fprdi-dost

Paje instructs NWRB to come up to a new dam management protocol

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon J.P Paje instructed recently the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), an agency attached to DENR, to come up to a new protocol on dam management in the face of changing patterns of natural phenomena.

“I strongly agree with the position that we review our protocol on dam management. Climate change has caused every imaginable change in our environment, from sea level rise to change in the weather pattern, frequency and strength of typhoons, flood course and high precipitation, which now constitute the “new normal,” Paje said.

NWRB Deputy Executive Director Nathaniel C. Santos explained that the technical working group (TWG) on Angat Dam operations is currently implementing the 2010 version of the dam’s protocol, originally formulated in 1998.

The protocol calls for NWRB to take charge of allocating water supply to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for the irrigation of farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga, and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for domestic supply of Metro Manila, that is, if the dam’s water level is 210 meters above sea level (masl) and below, Santos explained.

However, once the dam’s water level reaches above the 210-meter level, Santos stressed that the National Power Corporation (NPC), National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the Philippine Athmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) implement another protocol.

“The new management protocol should fill-up all loopholes in coordination as well as in implementing emergency measures to avoid situation such as what happened in Bulacan,” Paje stressed.

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Scientific bases on whether or not to activate BNPP

Dr. Alfred Mahar Francisco A. Lagmay discussed the Geological hazards of southwestern Natib volcano site of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), Philippines recently at the Traders Hotel hosted by the Chemical Mathematical and Physical Science Division of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).

Lagmay is a professor in the National Institute of Geological Science, University of the Philippines Diliman. According to Lagmay, when the BNPP was built in the late 70’s and early 80’s, the planning of nuclear power plant facilities did not involve well established, internationally accepted guidelines to set criteria and procedures for assessing potential volcanic hazards.

Permit for constructing the BNPP were granted based on investigation carried out according to local practices and based on science that necessarily could not take into account many relevant aspects of volcanology that have rapidly developed only over the past 30 years.

Mount Natib is also well-known locally because its southwestern slope is the site of BNPP.

Construction began in `1976 and was temporarily suspended in 1979, following the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and a subsequent safety inquiry into the plant.

Construction was resumed later, but before it was activated, the nuclear plant mothballed in 1986. In 2008, 26 years later, a Congressional Bill mandating the immediate recommissioned and commercial operation of the BNPP was filed.

The southwestern of Mount Natib, a potentially active volcano in the Bataan, volcanic arc in western Luzon, is the site of the mothballed nuclear power plant that members of the national legislature have proposed to activate.

Natib is considered a capable volcano, based on the active hydrothermal system with a magnetic signature and 95% confidence leveled possibility of a future VEL 6-7 volcanic eruptions.

Detailed geological fieldwork was conducted to assess the capability of the volcano and to identify any volcanic hazards it might pose to the nuclear plant.

The nearest eruptive center is 5.5 km away from the plant. Southwest Natib volcano is underlain by lava flows, lahar deposits and at least six pyroclastic density currents (PDC) deposits, three directly underlying the nuclear reactor facility.

A fault trending N30°E is aligned with the Lubao Fault, a capable fault northeast of the volcanic edifice.

Capable faults are associated with earthquakes. A fault should be considered capable if the maximum potential earthquake associated with it is sufficiently large and at a depth where it is reasonable to infer that movement at or near the surface could occur.

Radon emission at the traces of these faults are high and comparable to those known active faults.

The volcanic hazards posed to the site were assessed based on International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Viena draft guidelines.

Among the hazards identified lava flows and PDC are within the screening distance (SDV), the maximum distance from the source to the site at which the volcanic phenomenon could be hazard.

Of all the volcanic hazards identified from deposits at southwest Natib Volcano, PDC and lava flows do not have any engineering solutions. Lahar hazards, however, can be addressed by engineering designed.

The study already provides conservative probability estimates to the hazards assessment. Assuming such probabilities are sufficient to consider future eruptions as a credible events, the presence of at least three PDC deposits under the BNPP clearly show that pyroclastic flows are well within screening distance and can affect the site.

According to the IAEA draft guidelines, there is no engineering design that can address this type of hazard for a nuclear power plant.

Lagmay said, that enough data has been gathered to use as one of the scientific basis for the decision of the Philippine government whether or not to activate the mothballed BNPP.

These data will also be useful for general hazards preparedness of communities on the slope of the volcano.

—————————————————————————————————FPRDI bamboo flattening machine shows promise

A prototype school desk made from engineered bamboo was recently produced by FPRDI researchers using the Institute’s newly developed bamboo flattening machine. Able to flatten bamboo culms into planks, the machine promises to boost the local engineered bamboo industry.

“Engineered bamboo products,” according to FPRDI’s Dr. Rico J. Cabangon, “are produced by binding together veneers, strands, particles, fibers, strips or slats of bamboo with a suitable adhesive to form a composite material designed to meet specific uses.

“The products are also called “man-made bamboo” or “manufactured bamboo” since these are engineered to precise design specifications to meet client requirements, as well as relevant national and international standards.”

“Most often, engineered bamboo products are used in applications similar to engineered or solid wood products,” adds Cabangon. “Due to certain advantages in applications, however, engineered bamboo products may be preferred to solid wood.”

The bamboo flattening machine was developed by the team led by Engr. Dante B. Pulmano and has already been introduced to a group of Pampanga furniture-makers in a techno-demonstration . “The reception was positive, says Pulmano. “Managers of three firms said they were interested in acquiring one unit each of the machine once it is ready for commercialization.”

FPRDI is currently working on modifying the production process to reduce the cost. The bamboo flattening machine project was funded by the Philippine Council for Industrial Energy Research and Development (PCIERD). (Rizalina K. Araral, 28 September 2011)

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