Russia to invest in Argentine nuclear industry

Sergei Kiryenko, the head of Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear power company has signed a nuclear co-operation agreement with the Argentine Federal Planning Minister, Julio de Vido during the official state visit by Russia’s President Medvedev. The deal covers the possible partnership of Rosatom in designing and building nuclear power plants in Argentina based on Russian VVER pressurised water reactors and delivering fuel supplies. The deal also expressed the possibility of a partnership in building fuel-cycle facilities to enable the Argentines to fabricate their own nuclear fuel.

“If we are talking about, for example, the atomic energy sphere, the arrival of the Russian company Rosatom (Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency) in the Argentinean market [...] will lead to a several billion-dollar investment intended to be spent on the creation of [...] nuclear reactors, as well as on the development of infrastructure” said President Dmitry Medvedev.

Argentina has two operating nuclear power plants, Atucha 1 and Embalse. There is also a third plant, Atucha 2, a German designed pant, which begun construction in 1994 but was suspended when Argentina stopped its nuclear programme. Construction work resumed in 2006.

However, Argentina has also been in talks with the US, France, South Korea and Canada about going into partnership for the proposed fourth nuclear power plant in the country.

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