Argentina’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN - Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear) has granted a renewed operating licence for unit 2 of the Atucha NPP (Atucha II) to nuclear utility Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA (NA-SA). The licence is valid until May 2026 marking the end of the first 10 years of operation of the plant.
Atucha II, which is located in the city of Lima, Zárate, received a five-year operating licence in May 2016. ARN approved the first extension in May 2021 until 26 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 after which ARN issued a second licence renewal until 26 May 2024.
Argentina has three pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) – Atucha I, Atucha II and Embalse – with a total generating capacity of 1,641 MWe which provide 9% of electricity generation. Atucha I, supplied by Siemens, began construction in June 1968 and was the first NPP in Argentina and Latin America. Currently, it has a gross power of 362 MWe. The reactor uses heavy water as coolant and moderator, and 0.85% slightly enriched uranium as fuel. Construction of the 693 MWe Atucha II began in 1981 as a joint venture of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA - Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica) and Siemens-Kraftwerk Union.
However, work was suspended in 1994 due to financial and political difficulties with the plant 81% complete. It was restarted in 2006 and was first connected to the grid in 2014 starting commercial operation in 2016. NA-SA says the latest renewal was granted after ARN had "verified that the company carried out all the modifications and improvements to guarantee the safe and reliable operation of the plant".
Image: Aerial view of the Atucha I and Atucha II nuclear power plants (courtesy of Nucleoeléctrica)
