Argentina to revive nuke program (Reuters) Updated: 2006-08-24 10:42 BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina's government
launched on Wednesday a nuclear energy plan that includes the completion of a
third plant and the enrichment of uranium after a nearly ten-year lull.
Argentina's energy needs have soared as the economy rebounds from a
devastating 2001-2002 crisis, but supplies are limited by low investment and
frozen tariffs. The government is using its hefty budget surplus to jump-start
the sector.
The country has two nuclear plants producing 8.2 percent of the electricity
it consumes. A third plant, Atucha II, is still unfinished some 26 years after
it was started.
Planning Minister Julio De Vido said 1.8 billion pesos (US$583 million) will be
invested to finish building Atucha II, which should be operating by the second
half of 2010. The possibility of building a fourth plant will also be studied.
"This endeavor has vital significance for the country, not only in providing
electrical energy, but also in reactivating the entire scientific, technological
and industrial spectrum associated with the nuclear field," De Vido said in a
statement.
Argentina is also home to an experimental plant for enriching uranium, a
technology the country has mastered since 1983 but barely used in the 1990s.
De Vido said Argentina will once again work to enrich uranium, but "always
within the framework of strict adherence to the peaceful use of nuclear energy
and in compliance with nonproliferation treaties signed by Argentina."
An energy crunch in the last three years has led Argentina's government to
limit natural gas exports to Chile, import fuel oil from Venezuela and expand
purchases of Bolivian gas.
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