Eletrobrás Eletronuclear of Brazil has formally declared void the bidding process that had resulted in the hiring of a consortium to carry out the electromechanical assembly at unit 3 of the Angra nuclear power plant in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, according to a 30 January entry in Brazil's official journal, the Diário Oficial da União.
The annulment notice, was signed by the Eletronuclear CEO Bruno Barretto. The companies Andrade Gutierrez, Camargo Corrêa, Queiroz Galvão, UTC, Techint, Odebrecht and EBE comprising the Angramon consortium appealed against the annulment, but the appeal was rejected by Eletronuclear.
The contracts, awarded in 2014, were suspended following a corruption probe in 2015. The irregularities in the contract with the companies were revealed during investigations of Operation Lava Jato, the Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecutor, which was looking into wider corruption between companies and politicians in Brazil. After the complaint, and amid delays in payments by Eletronuclear, the construction companies paralysed work at Angra 3. In late December, Eletronuclear signed a memorandum of understanding with China's CNNC for its possible participation in a resumption of construction.
