Nuclear power in Argentina

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Nuclear power stations in Argentina (view)
Green pog.svg  Active plants
Blue pog.svg  Under construction

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.

Contents

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]

Reactors

Commercial

Plant
name
Unit
No.
TypeModelStatusCapacity
(MW)
Begin
building
Commercial
operation
Closed
Atucha [12] 1 PHWR Siemens-KWUOperational3351 Jun 196824 Jun 1974
2 PHWR Siemens-KWUOperational69214 Jul 198127 Jun 2014
3 PWR Hualong One Planned [13] 1200
Embalse [14] 1 PHWR CANDU-6Operational6001 Apr 197420 Jan 1984(2049) [15]
CAREM 1 PWR CAREM25Under construction258 Feb 2014

Research reactors

Name [16] Reactor typeStatusCapacity in kWtConstruction start dateFirst criticality dateClosureOperator and owner
RA-0TankOperational0.01January 19541 January 1965 National University of Córdoba
RA-1 Enrico Fermi TankOperational40April 195720 January 1958 National Atomic Energy Commission
RA-2Critical assemblyDecommissioned0.03January 19651 July 196623 September 1983 a National Atomic Energy Commission
RA-3PoolOperational10,000February 196317 May 1967National Atomic Energy Commission
RA-4HOMOGOperational0.001January 19711 January 1972 National University of Rosario
RA-6PoolOperational3,000September 197823 September 1982National Atomic Energy Commission
RA-8Critical assemblyTemporary Shutdown0.01January 198616 June 19972001National Atomic Energy Commission
RA-10Under construction30,000March 2016(late 2023)National Atomic Energy Commission

Legislation

Provinces that have banned the construction of nuclear power plants are: [17]

Chaco

Corrientes

Entre Ríos

La Pampa

Río Negro

San Luis

Santa Fe

Tierra del Fuego

Tucumán

See also

Notes

^a Dismantled 1984-1989 after a criticality accident. Fuel removed to the United States in 2007.

Related Research Articles

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Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the 1950s, and in October 2011 licensed this technology to Candu Energy.

The Advanced CANDU reactor (ACR), or ACR-1000, was a proposed Generation III+ nuclear reactor design, developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). It combined features of the existing CANDU pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) with features of light-water cooled pressurized water reactors (PWR). From CANDU, it took the heavy water moderator, which gave the design an improved neutron economy that allowed it to burn a variety of fuels. It replaced the heavy water cooling loop with one containing conventional light water, reducing costs. The name refers to its design power in the 1,000 MWe class, with the baseline around 1,200 MWe.

The Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor (SGHWR) was a United Kingdom design for commercial nuclear reactors. It uses heavy water as the neutron moderator and normal "light" water as the coolant. The coolant boils in the reactor, like a boiling water reactor, and drives the power-extraction steam turbines.

Nuclear Power Demonstration was the first Canadian nuclear power reactor, and the prototype for the CANDU reactor design. Built by Canadian General Electric, in partnership with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario it consisted of a single 22 MWe pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) unit located in Rolphton, Ontario, not far from AECL's Chalk River Laboratories. NPD was owned by AECL and operated by Ontario Hydro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Point Nuclear Generating Station</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Atomic Energy Commission</span> Argentine government agency

The National Atomic Energy Commission is the Argentine government agency in charge of nuclear energy research and development.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embalse Nuclear Power Station</span> Nuclear power plant in Argentina

The Embalse Nuclear Power Station is one of three operational nuclear power plants in Argentina. It is located on the southern shore of a reservoir on the Río Tercero, near the city of Embalse, Córdoba, 110 km south-southwest of Córdoba City.

The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant is a large commercial nuclear power plant located at the Paradise Point in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China National Nuclear Corporation</span> Chinese Nuclear Energy & Weapon manufacturer

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The 2006 Argentine nuclear reactivation plan is a project to renew and reactivate the development of nuclear power in Argentina. The main points of the plan were announced by the Argentine government through Planning Minister Julio de Vido during a press conference on 23 August 2006. They include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear power in China</span> Overview of nuclear power in China

China is one of the world's largest producers of nuclear power. The country ranks third in the world both in total nuclear power capacity installed and electricity generated, accounting for around one tenth of global nuclear power generated. As of February 2023, China has 55 plants with 57GW in operation, 22 under construction with 24 GW and more than 70 planned with 88GW. About 5% of electricity in the country is due to nuclear energy. These plants generated 417 TWh of electricity in 2022 This is versus the September 2022 numbers of 53 nuclear reactors, with a total capacity of 55.6 gigawatt (GW). In 2019, nuclear power had contributed 4.9% of the total Chinese electricity production, with 348.1 TWh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CAREM</span> Modular nuclear reactor in Argentina

CAREM is a small modular reactor for electrical power generation currently under construction near the city of Zárate, in the northern part of Buenos Aires province beside the Atucha I Nuclear Power Plant.

A pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) is a nuclear reactor that uses heavy water (deuterium oxide D2O) as its coolant and neutron moderator. PHWRs frequently use natural uranium as fuel, but sometimes also use very low enriched uranium. The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure to avoid boiling, allowing it to reach higher temperature (mostly) without forming steam bubbles, exactly as for a pressurized water reactor. While heavy water is very expensive to isolate from ordinary water (often referred to as light water in contrast to heavy water), its low absorption of neutrons greatly increases the neutron economy of the reactor, avoiding the need for enriched fuel. The high cost of the heavy water is offset by the lowered cost of using natural uranium and/or alternative fuel cycles. As of the beginning of 2001, 31 PHWRs were in operation, having a total capacity of 16.5 GW(e), representing roughly 7.76% by number and 4.7% by generating capacity of all current operating reactors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atucha Nuclear Power Plant</span> Nuclear generating complex in Argentina

The Atucha Nuclear Complex, or Atucha Nuclear Power Plant, is the location for two adjacent nuclear power plants in Lima, Zárate, Buenos Aires Province, about 100 kilometres (60 mi) from Buenos Aires, on the right-hand shore of the Paraná de las Palmas River. Both are pressurized heavy-water reactors (PHWR) employing a mixture of natural uranium and enriched uranium, and use heavy water for cooling and neutron moderation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hualong One</span> Chinese nuclear reactor design

The Hualong One is a Chinese Generation III pressurized water nuclear reactor jointly developed by the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). The CGN version, and its derived export version, is called HPR1000. It is commonly mistakenly referred to in media as the "ACPR1000" and "ACP1000", which are in fact earlier reactors design programs by CGN and CNNC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IPHWR-700</span> Indian nuclear reactor design

The IPHWR-700 is an Indian pressurized heavy-water reactor designed by the NPCIL. It is a Generation III reactor developed from earlier CANDU based 220 MW and 540 MW designs. It can generate 700 MW of electricity. Currently there are 5 units under construction and 10 more units planned, at a cost of 1.05 lakh crore (US$13 billion).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IPHWR</span> Indian nuclear reactor design

The IPHWR is a class of Indian pressurized heavy-water reactors designed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. The baseline 220 MWe design was developed from the CANDU based RAPS-1 and RAPS-2 reactors built at Rawatbhata, Rajasthan. Later the design was based on VVER technology which was scaled to 540 MW and 700 MW designs. Currently there are 17 units of various types operational at various locations in India.

References

  1. "Atucha 2 reaches 100% rated power". WNN. 19 February 2015.
  2. "Una nueva central nuclear, 30 años después". 29 September 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  3. https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/36/018/36018102.pdf?r=1 [ bare URL PDF ]
  4. "Canada, Argentina and China to cooperate on Candu projects". World Nuclear News. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  5. "Russia moves to support Argentina through new debt crisis". Argentina News.Net. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  6. "Hualong One selected for Argentina". World Nuclear News. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  7. Charlie Zhu and David Stanway (6 March 2015). "'Made in China' nuclear reactors a tough sell in global market". Reuters. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  8. "Argentina resumes uranium enrichment". Nuclear Engineering International. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  9. "Argentina-China talks on new nuclear plants". World Nuclear News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Argentina and China sign contract for two reactors". World Nuclear News. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  11. Cronista.com. "Suspenden la construcción las centrales nucleares financiadas por China 'hasta un mejor momento fiscal'". El Cronista (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  12. "Nuclear Power in Argentina | Argentinian Nuclear Energy – World Nuclear Association". world-nuclear.org. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  13. "China inks $8 bln nuclear power plant deal in Argentina". Reuters. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  14. Yulia Kosarenko. "NASA fact sheet". Archived from the original on 8 July 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  15. "BNamericas – The Embalse Nuclear Power Plant returns to s..." BNamericas.com.
  16. "Breve historia de los reactores nucleares de investigación y producción de la CNEA" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  17. Legislation map
  18. La Pampa Constitution
  19. Tierra del Fuego Constitution