Brazil will continue to bank on new nuclear generation to support its rapidly growing economy, Energy Minister Edison Lobao said Thursday. Despite the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan, which prompted Brazil to evaluate its two operating reactors, Lobao said the country still plans to complete another five units.
One is currently under construction at Brazil’s existing Angra nuclear plant between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. After early work on the project stalled in the late 1980s Angra unit 3 was granted new approval in 2009, according to the World Nuclear Association, with Areva signing a contract to build it. The 1,405 megawatt pressurized water reactor is scheduled to come online in 2015.
Earlier, Brazilian energy policies called for four additional reactors to be built in the country by 2025. While that timeline remains uncertain, Lobao made clear that the government still supports the proposed reactors. He said construction on new units would start after a security review of the existing reactors is complete.