Argentina - World Nuclear Performance Report

Argentina has two nuclear power plants: Atucha, about 100 km northwest of Buenos Aires; and Embalse, about 100 km south of Córdoba. The Atucha plant comprises two Siemens-designed pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs), unique to Argentina; and Embalse, a single Candu 6 PHWR unit from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL).

A long-term operation project at Atucha 1, Latin America’s first nuclear power reactor, is due to commence this year. The shutdown is expected to last two-to-three years and would allow the unit, which began operation in 1974, to operate for a further two decades. Nucleoeléctrica Argentina has said that 2000 jobs will be created during the extension project.

Atucha 2 returned to service in August 2023. The unit had been offline since October 2022, when a routine inspection revealed that one of the four internal supports of the reactor had become detached. August 2024 the unit received a renewed operating licence for a further 10 years of operation.

Construction of the CAREM25 prototype SMR – also at the Atucha site – began in early 2014 but has been suspended several times. The new president of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) ordered a ‘critical design review’ in May 2024 to identify aspects of the project that might require review or  redesign.

Electricity generation by age of reactor