COUNTRY PAVILLIONS | WNE2025 Argentina: Looking for long-term operation
With three large operating reactors and a smaller unit largely constructed, Argentina is focused on extending the operating life of its fleet while building up its indigenous nuclear technology
Argentina has three nuclear reactors at two sites which collectively generate around 5% of the country’s electricity. Argentina’s first reactor, Atucha unit 1, is a KWU pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR), located on the Paraná de las Palmas River some 100 km northeast of the capital Buenos Aires. It began operating in 1974 and was Latin America’s first nuclear power plant. KWU was a joint venture of Germany’s Siemens and AEG. A CANDU 6 PHWR followed at Embalse just outside Cordoba nearly a decade later, with operations starting in 1983. Atucha unit 2, another KWU PHWR began operations in 2014 although it was first ordered in 1979 and is a larger version of unit 1. However, lack of funds caused delays and work was suspended in 1994 when the plant was 81% complete. According to the WNA, the three units generate a total of
1619 MWe. All the country’s nuclear plants are operated by the Argentinian utility Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA (NA-SA). Now in its 51st year of operation, Atucha 1 is the focus of a
life extension project. The programme will extend the plant’s operation by an additional 20 years at full power and the 30 month-long refurbishment outage is scheduled to take place between 2024 and 2026. In September last year, Nucleoeléctrica announced that it had secured the necessary funds and the plant’s maintenance outage would begin the same month. The operating licence for Atucha 1 has already been extended
once, in 2018, to bring it to 2024. In June last year, Argentina’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN – La Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear) provided an update on plans for the Long-Term Operation (LTO) of Atucha 1. Describing the first extension as Stage A, during which Nucleoeléctrica carried out exhaustive evaluations and studies to establish programmes that would ensure that the design basis of the installation was maintained. This is being followed by a Prolonged Period of Reconditioning (PPR) now underway, and Stage B. During the PPR outage Atucha I will carry out improvements, which will result in a plant with safety characteristics superior to the original design. In March 2024, ARN also granted a renewed operating licence for Atucha unit 2 which is valid until May 2026. It marked the end
Above: Atucha units 1 and 2 are located on the Paraná de las Palmas River some 100 km northeast of Buenos Aires. Source: NEA
of the first 10 years of operation of the
plant.It had received a five-year operating licence in May 2016 and a first extension in May 2021 until May 2023. However, the plant was shut down from October 2022 for repairs after the discovery that one of the four internal supports of the reactor had detached and moved from its design location. It restarted in August 2023. The Embalse NPP completed a 30-year life extension in 2019
after a three-year outage. The work involved Canada’s SNC Lavalin and L3 MAPPS, Italy’s Ansaldo and the Argentinian companies CONUAR, IMPSA, Techint, SACDE. Beyond Argentina’s large reactor fleet, it is also developing a domestic-designed small modular reactor, the Central ARgentina de Elementos Modulares (CAREM) design. The 25 MWe CAREM-25 station is under construction at the Atucha site. However, the project has faced several setbacks with workers laid off in September 2024 following a series of government cutbacks. CAREM’s construction is reportedly 85% complete and was set to go online in 2028, before the latest stoppage and that launch date is now looking uncertain. Development first started in 1980 by CNEA and technology company INVAP and it was first announced in 1984. More recently, in September Brazil and Argentina signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB – Reator Multipropósito Brasileiro). The deal aims to lead to the conclusion of the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) contract for the technological complex that will house the 30 MWt open-pool research reactor, similar to Argentina’s RA-10 multipurpose reactor currently under construction, with its operation scheduled in the next year or two. The RMB will be delivered in 2030, with the start of operation scheduled for 2031.
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