In Argentina, about 10% [1] of the electricity comes from 3 operational nuclear reactors: Embalse, a CANDU reactor, and Atucha I and II, two PHWR German designs.
In 2001, the Atucha plant was modified to burn Slightly Enriched Uranium, making it the first PHWR reactor to burn that fuel worldwide.[ citation needed] Atucha was originally planned to be a complex with various reactors. Atucha 2 (similar to Atucha 1 but more powerful) began to produce energy on June 3, 2014, and it is expected to produce 745MWh[ clarification needed]. Plans for Atucha III, a third reactor in the Atucha complex, have been announced. [2]
Argentina also has various research reactors, [3] and exports nuclear technology. Nucleoeléctrica of Argentina and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited are negotiating over the contracts and project delivery model for a new 740 MWe CANDU nuclear power plant. [4]
In July 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with Argentine President Cristina Fernández Kirchner, during a visit to the country. [5]
In February 2015, Argentine president Cristina Kirchner and Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping signed a cooperation agreement, and the build of a Hualong One design power station has been proposed. [6] [7]
In December 2015 a new uranium enrichment plant to manufacture fuel for Argentina's nuclear plants, located in Pilcaniyeu, was inaugurated. The plant will use both gaseous diffusion and more modern laser techniques. [8]
China and Argentina had agreed a contract to build a 700 MWe CANDU 6 derived reactor. Its construction was planned to start in 2018 at Atucha, [9] [10] but it was indefinitely suspended by Mauricio Macri's government due to financial issues. [11] The building of a 1000 MWe Hualong One plant is planned to start in 2020. [10]
Plant name |
Unit No. |
Type | Model | Status | Capacity (MW) |
Begin building |
Commercial operation |
Closed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atucha [12] | 1 | PHWR | Siemens-KWU | Operational | 335 | 1 Jun 1968 | 24 Jun 1974 | |
2 | PHWR | Siemens-KWU | Operational | 692 | 14 Jul 1981 | 27 Jun 2014 | ||
3 | PWR | Hualong One | Planned [13] | 1200 | ||||
Embalse [14] | 1 | PHWR | CANDU-6 | Operational | 600 | 1 Apr 1974 | 20 Jan 1984 | (2049) [15] |
CAREM | 1 | PWR | CAREM25 | Under construction | 25 | 8 Feb 2014 |
Name [16] | Reactor type | Status | Capacity in kWt | Construction start date | First criticality date | Closure | Operator and owner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RA-0 | Tank | Operational | 0.01 | January 1954 | 1 January 1965 | National University of Córdoba | |
RA-1 Enrico Fermi | Tank | Operational | 40 | April 1957 | 20 January 1958 | National Atomic Energy Commission | |
RA-2 | Critical assembly | Decommissioned | 0.03 | January 1965 | 1 July 1966 | 23 September 1983 a | National Atomic Energy Commission |
RA-3 | Pool | Operational | 10,000 | February 1963 | 17 May 1967 | National Atomic Energy Commission | |
RA-4 | HOMOG | Operational | 0.001 | January 1971 | 1 January 1972 | National University of Rosario | |
RA-6 | Pool | Operational | 3,000 | September 1978 | 23 September 1982 | National Atomic Energy Commission | |
RA-8 | Critical assembly | Temporary Shutdown | 0.01 | January 1986 | 16 June 1997 | 2001 | National Atomic Energy Commission |
RA-10 | Under construction | 30,000 | March 2016 | (late 2023) | National Atomic Energy Commission |
Provinces that have banned the construction of nuclear power plants are: [17]