MANILA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government has been urged not to discount the possibility of tapping nuclear power in the coming years despite the country's relatively small size.

The benefits of nuclear power, even for a small country like the Philippines, made it an obvious candidate for helping supply the country's future energy needs, the Philippine Daily Inquirer on- line news Monday quoted Ravinder Mago, general manager of the Nuclear Power Corp. of India, as saying.

"Nuclear power is environmentally friendly, economically viable and has the advantage of energy security," he said. "It has huge potential of electricity generation for centuries to come."

He noted that Vietnam, also a small and developing country like the Philippines, was keen on tapping nuclear sources for its energy requirements.

The important things to consider, if the government chooses to use nuclear means to generate power, were the project proponent's technical expertise and the government's political will.

Likewise, Mago expressed Indian government's willingness to provide the Philippines any form of assistance it could offer should the country decide to invest in nuclear power generation.

Last month, Philippine Energy Secretary Vincent Perez urged the government to keep the nuclear power option open to help supplement its energy sources, saying the private sector should be encouraged to put up new power plants now because the debt- strapped Philippine national government was not in a position to do so.

A 600-megawatt nuclear power plant was built by the government near Manila in the 1970s to diversify fuel sources amid a global oil crisis but it was never commissioned.

The plant was mothballed by then President Corazon Aquino after cost overruns and construction delays that pushed up the price tag on the project to about two billion dollars. The government is still paying interest on funds borrowed to build the plant.

During the recently concluded 19th World Energy Council Congress and Exhibition in Sydney, Australia, much emphasis was given on nuclear power, especially by countries like China, Japan, South Korea and India, where energy demand was projected to spike in the coming years.