Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato De La Peña and Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) Director Dr. Carlo Arcilla (top photo, middle and left, respectively) during the meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations (bottom photo).
House Committee on Appropriations Approves Comprehensive Nuclear Law
Taking the key piece of legislation for nuclear regulations one step closer to enactment, the bill for the Comprehensive Nuclear Law was recently approved before the House Committee on Appropriations.
The bill hurdled through the appropriations committee at the House of Representatives during its meeting on August 28, 2018.
The bill, entitled “An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Nuclear Regulatory Framework, Creating for the Purpose, the Philippine Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Appropriating Funds Therefor”, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Nuclear Regulation Act, pushes for the creation of a unified independent regulatory body consistent with international standards for the regulation of all practices and facilities involving sources of ionizing radiation, including nuclear and other radioactive materials, facilities and radiation generating equipment.
Its current incarnation in the House of Representatives was previously consolidated from several other bills into a substitute bill in November 2017, with former President and current House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as one of its sponsors.
In the Senate, a counterpart bill for the nuclear law is currently filed by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
DOST Secretary Fortunato De La Peña and PNRI Director Dr. Carlo Arcilla were present during the committee meeting along with other officials and staff from DOST and PNRI.
Currently, the Philippines has two regulatory bodies dealing with ionizing radiation: the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) which regulates nuclear and radioactive materials, and the Center for Device Regulation, Radiation Health and Research (CDRRHR) under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health (DOH), which regulates x-rays and devices producing electrically-generated radiation.
