Russia invites Argentine officials to visit a nuclear power plant similar to the one planned for the South Atlantic – MercoPress

Russia invites Argentine officials to visit a nuclear power plant similar to the one planned for the South Atlantic

Tuesday, June 15, 2021 – 09:40 UTC

Antúnez is someone the Russians know quite well

Russia’s intentions to install nuclear power plants in Argentina took a new step on Monday when the Rosatom agency invited Argentine officials to visit the floating power plant in Siberia.

Kirill Komarov, deputy director of Rosatom, sent a letter to José Luis Antúnez, CEO of Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, the state agency in charge of the local Atucha I, II and Embalse, to tour the floating nuclear power plant in front of the port of Pevek arctic coasts.

It is not yet known whether Antúnez will accept the invitation, and whether he actually does, although Russian sources insisted they hoped it would in the coming months.

To this end, Argentina and Russia signed different macro agreements from 2008, which the Vladimir Putin government brought to the surface again during negotiations over the purchase and subsequent local production of the Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine.

Earlier this year, Russia’s ambassador, Dmitry Feoktistov, said his country’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Martín Guzmán, had proposed promoting the construction of two nuclear power plants, one on mainland Argentina and one off the coast, of which there is only one in the world – the Antúnez was invited to visit .

The ?? Akadémik Lomonósov ?? has two KLT-40S reactors with 35 megawatts each, which can supply a population of almost 100,000 with electricity and energy. According to the joint project, Argentina would provide the marine structure while Russia would be responsible for the nuclear reactors.

The Uruguayan authorities have already expressed concern about such a development and have requested a report on the possible construction of the nuclear power plant.

Antúnez is well known to Rosatom for their mutual involvement in the development of Atucha II between 2005 and 2015. He has also been instrumental in promoting an energy relationship with China aimed at expanding atomic boundaries, the main objectives of which are to resume construction of the low-powered CAREM reactor and resume construction of a heavy water facility in Neuquén.