VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed engineering and construction group SNC-Lavalin has won a pre-project contract from Argentina's Nucleoeléctrica Argentina (NA-SA) for the CANDU nuclear new build project at the Atucha site in the district of Zàrate.
The six-month contract will allow SNC-Lavalin to engage with suppliers for long-lead equipment, conduct preliminary design work, deliver safety analysis, offer licencing support and provide technical assistance from Canada.
Located about 100 km from Buenos Aires, the engineering firm stated that should this project materialise, it would be the first CANDU new build since Cernavoda Unit 2 came on line in 2007.
This announcement comes in the wake of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to Argentina where he met with President Mauricio Macri. The two leaders discussed mutual collaboration between the two countries, among other things, as Argentina's economy expands and energy demand increases.
Argentina already owns and operates a CANDU reactor at Embalse, about 650 km northwest of Buenos Aires. Construction of this reactor started in 1976 and it went into commercial operation in 1984. As well as supplying electricity, Embalse is also used to produce Cobalt-60, a radioisotope used in medical and industrial applications. SNC-Lavalin is also currently engaged in the life extension of the Embalse reactor.
CANDU reactors are fuel-flexible, capable of using natural uranium for fuel, as in Argentina, or advanced fuels like recycled uranium and thorium, as is being developed for use in countries such as China.