Bataan pushes the conversion of BNPP into a data center

by Almira Louise S. Martinez, Reporter

Converting the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) into a data center could benefit the nation, the province’s governor said on Tuesday.��

“I think this will be one of the biggest in the country; the government can definitely benefit. At least we have an in-country data center,” Bataan Governor Jose Enriquez “Joet” S. Garcia III said in an interview.����

Transforming the power station could drive many opportunities, not only for the province but also for the whole country, he added.����

“It’s a work-and-play development that I believe can attract investors and locators, bringing in revenue and jobs.”��

Further, the local government plans to establish an IT-BPM hub within the proposed center to serve private sectors and companies.����

“We are proposing that it become an IT-BPM hub so locators will be there, and various BPM will be there,” Mr, Garcia said.��

Mr. Garcia told ����ý he sees data as ‘gold’ that needs a secure and safe place to store, which BNPP could offer given the nature of its structure.��

��“There’s really good potential to convert the BNPP into a cloud computing center—in fact, a water-cooled data computing center.”��

��“As we all know, nuclear plants are also water-cooled, so we can utilize that same technology to help make the data center more efficient,” he added.��

Mr. Garcia appeals to the national government to support the ‘practical’ utilization of the facility instead of operating it as a nuclear power plant.����

“So many changes are happening in the province; we have so many critical industries here; we don’t think a nuclear plant in Bataan would be the most practical.”����

Last , the 2nd District of Bataan Congressman Albert S. Garcia had a discussion with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) about the structural plans and design of the BNPP conversion project.