Brazil's nuclear industry reboots

26 November 2012


Investments in Brazilian nuclear energy projects will exceed US$6.5bn by the end of the decade, reports BNamericas. Edson Kuramoto, president of Aben, the country's nuclear association, said that the industry has made a full recovery after what he called the 'negative publicity' surrounding the Fukushima disaster last year in Japan.

Brazil is expected to have at least four new nuclear generation facilities before 2030. Projects underway include the Angra 3 power plant in Rio de Janeiro state that will increase the country's installed nuclear capacity from 1.99 GW to 3.40 GW by 2016.

"The nuclear area in Brazil is extensive, covering electric power generation, the production of radiopharmaceuticals and radioisotopes as well as the whole fuel cycle," Kuramoto said. "There are also investments in uranium enrichment facilities, gasification and production of uranium minerals.

Kuramoto says the industry has rebounded following Fukushima. While the incident prompted Germany, Switzerland and Italy to abandon their nuclear power ambitions, Brazil has no such plans. "The accident did have an impact, but it was much smaller than what analysts had predicted," Kuramoto said. "More than 20 months have passed and many countries have announced the construction of new plants and others have decided to begin nuclear programs.

According to Kuramoto, the expansion of nuclear power will provide crucial reinforcement to Brazil's energy matrix. "Due to the exhaustion of the country's hydroelectric potential beginning in 2030, the participation of large-scale thermoelectric plants will increase and so will new opportunities for nuclear plants," he said.




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