Atucha II nuclear power plant

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Atucha II is a projected nuclear power plant in Argentina, located in Lima, Buenos Aires, on a site next to Atucha I. Its construction started in 1980, but it has never been finished (it is complete by around 80%). Like Atucha I, it is a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR), but was planned to have a much higher power (thermal power approx. 2,000 MW, electrical 750 MW). At the time when it was started, it had the largest reactor pressure vessel of any nuclear power plant worldwide^[1]. The total cost is now estimated at US$3.8 billion, or about $5500/kWe, considerably higher than the worldwide mean of about $1500/kWe^[2].

Partly as a response to the energy shortage caused by natural gas crisis of 2004, the issue of Atucha II was taken up by the Argentine government. In 2005 President Néstor Kirchner signed a decree to reactivate the construction and pledged to finish it by 2009^[3]. New technicians were hired and a budget of about $120 million was requested for 2006. Eduardo Messi, president of Nucleoeléctrica Argentina S.A. (the firm in charge of the plant), told reporters that 93% of the components were either in storage or already installed.

On 23 August 2006 the government announced the re-activation of the national nuclear programme, and updated its promise to finish Atucha II by 2010, devoting a total of 1,850 million pesos ($596/€466 million)^[4]. The plant is now slated to generate about 750 MW (5% of Argentina's total energy production).

[edit] References

^ Facundo Deluchi (1 October 2006). "Análisis del plan nuclear argentino". Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Sociales, Universidad del Salvador. Retrieved on 10 November.
^ Costs: Operating / Building / Waste Disposal. Nuclear Energy Institute (2005). Retrieved on 10 November 2006.
^ Clarín. 4 September 2005. El Gobierno dice que terminará la central Atucha II en cuatro años
^ La Nación. 24 August 2006. Lanzó el Gobierno un plan de impulso a la energía nuclear

[edit] See also

Energy in Argentina
Electric power · Enarsa · Hydroelectric plants Yaciretá · El Chocón · Cerros Colorados CNEA · Atucha I · Atucha II · Embalse 2004 energy crisis · 2006 nuclear reactivation plan