Speaker
Description
Embalse Nuclear Power Plant (CNE NPP) is a CANDU type reactor with pressure tubes type, loaded with natural uranium fuel, and moderated and cooled with heavy water. It is located in the province of Córdoba, Argentina.
Before accomplished its first cycle of operation, the Government, according to the national Law N° 26566 (in 2009), declared of national interest the life extension of CNE and determined that NA SA was the entity in charge of the project.
In that sense, in order to extend the plant life for another 25 years of full power operation as well as to increase the electrical power, during the refurbishment outage different design changes were introduced to improve safety. The main activities that were carried out consisted of changing pressure tubes, the steam generators, the process computers and the repowering of the plant.
From the sustainable development point of view, it stands out not only the commitment to minimize the generation of radioactive waste and not exceed the estimated volume of waste generated, but also the process of citizen participation through a Public Hearing which granted the social environmental license. In this manner, stakeholders representing the local community, the provincial and the national interests were able to express their vision on this vital project. The understanding of the need to reduce the effect of global warming due to the burning of fossil fuel to produce electricity was a great achievement.
At the beginning of 2019, CNE was reconnected to the electricity grid at full power.
