Brazil's nuclear energy commission (CNEN) likely will make a decision next year on the type of technology to use at new nuclear power plants, CNEN president Odair Dias Gonçalves told BNamericas in Santiago, Chile.
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Nuclear generation
Government/Regulations
The country is planning to develop 4-8 new 1GW-capacity reactors by 2030, Gonçalves said at a nuclear energy conference in the Chilean capital.
The new reactors will be built in complexes that will include up to three reactors each. One complex is planned for Brazil's northeast and another could be developed in Mato Grosso or São Paulo states.
The new plants will be BWRs [boiling water reactors], he said.
Brazil's nuclear industry is open to new players, but mainly for part supplies, Gonçalves told various industry executives on the sidelines of the conference.
"We intend to have 70% of the parts built in Brazil," he said.
"The process for the new plants will be open. We'll ask everyone and do some kind of a study to find the best option for us," he said. "You have to be aggressive, though, because [France's] Areva is going after everything."
COST WORRIES
Gonçalves called inaccurate recent reports that have said nuclear energy is too expensive.
Environmental NGO Greenpeace has criticized costs involved with nuclear energy and Sao Paulo University said Brazil's Angra III nuclear plant under development will cost US$1.7bn more than forecast, according to local press.
"The information was wrong," Gonçalves said without expanding on the cost situation.
That plant is expected to come online in 2013 and cost 7.2bn reais (US$4.2bn).
Nuclear power in Brazil will account for 5.5% of all installed capacity by 2030. In 2004, nuclear power represented 3% of installed capacity and 5% of all power produced.
CHILE
Brazil, meanwhile, is open to aiding Chile in the development of a nuclear energy program.
"We already have an agreement with Argentina for nuclear energy and that could be extended to include Chile," Gonçalves said.
Chile is performing preliminary studies on whether to develop nuclear capacity or not.
