US opens way for nuclear investment in energy-hungry Philippines

The United States on Thursday signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with the Philippines, clearing a path for US investment to jumpstart atomic power in a country racing to expand its electricity supply. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signed the pact with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco.

Marcos said he was fulfilling an earlier pledge to build "affordable, reliable and sustainable energy supply for the entire country in order to meet our growing energy demands." The deal signed with Blinken commits the Philippines to safeguards against the use of transferred nuclear material to produce nuclear weapons.