Argentina continues nuclear development

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - Argentina's national government is advancing a nuclear development plan to complete the Atucha II plant by 2011. It will be the country's fourth nuclear facility.

A construction analysis shows that a fifth plant would utilize third-generation technology.

Atucha II will supply 692 megawatts MW of electricity to the national interconnection system by 2011. The plant will be similar to the last nuclear plant built in Germany, the Trillo facility in Spain, and Angra II in Brazil. Atucha II will be integrated into Argentina's existing nuclear park, formed by Atucha I 367 MW and Embalse 648 MW. The three plants will use pressurized heavy water reactor technology. The Embalse facility, which is in Cordoba province, uses the Canadian-designed CANDU and Atucha I and II, which were designed by Siemens AG.

Together with the national government, technicians from the Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica and Nucleoeléctrica Argentina are moving forward with studies to define the configuration and characteristics of the fifth nuclear facility, which will require manufacturing the nuclear fuel, as well as the participation of local industry.

The projected fifth nuclear plant will not use the same technology as the other three instead, it will use third-generation technology and the corresponding optimizations of the security norms. The possible bidders could be companies from the United States, France, Russia and South Korea. Argentine authorities say the fifth nuclear power plant, which would be operational by 2030, should be defined by the end of this year at the latest.

Argentina's government is evaluating the use of low-enriched uranium and is reactivating enriched uranium in Pilcaniyeu, Rio Negro province.