Review continues comprehensive agency evaluation of unit in recent years
An International Atomic Energy Agency review team has praised preparations for long-term operation (LTO) at the Atucha-1 nuclear power plant in Argentina, noting many of the ageing management and LTO activities are already in alignment with agency safety standards.
The safety aspects of long-term operation (Salto) mission was requested by state-owned plant owner and operator Nucleoelectrica Argentina. It continues a comprehensive IAEA evaluation of the unit in recent years.
Two IAEA pre-Salto missions in 2016 and 2018, followed by a pre-Salto follow-up in 2021, were conducted to review the long-term safety of the unit.
Nucleoelectrica Argentina is preparing to submit a licence renewal application to the Argentinian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN) to extend the operating lifetime of the 340-MW pressurised heavy water reactor unit by 20 years.
The plant, 100 km northwest of Buenos Aires, went into commercial operation in 1974 and its current operating licence expires in 2024. The 693-MW Atucha-2 began commercial operation in 2016 and was not part of the review.
The Salto team identified good practices and good performances that will be shared with the nuclear industry globally, including the qualification of coatings designed to ensure integrity of the containment building and comprehensive condition assessment reports for safety related structures, systems and components.
The team called for Nucleoelectrica Argentina to provide a systematic safety assessment to identify reasonable safety improvements for the operation period beyond 2024.
It said the plant should complete and implement the qualification programme for electrical components inside the containment and improve the implementation of ageing management of civil structures.
Argentina has three operating commercial power reactors – a Candu unit at the Embalse nuclear station and two Siemens KWU-designed PHWR units at Atucha.
In 2022, the three units produced about 5.5% of Argentina’s generated electricity.
Argentina is planning to build a third unit at Atucha with China in the running to provide the plant technology. Progress on the nuclear deal between the two key trading partners stalled since it was first negotiated by the administration of former president Cristina Fernandez, a left-wing populist who left office in 2015 after striking a number of deals with China.
Argentina is also building a domestically designed and developed 25-MW Carem small modular pressurised water reactor unit at the Atucha site.
