Argentina is planning to build two new nuclear power plants – one with Chinese Hualong One reactor technology and another with Candu technology from Canada, local press reports said.

Argentina’s three existing reactor units providing about 7.5% of its electricity generation, but the government wants to double that in the next 16 years.

The Buenos Aires Times quoted José Luis Antúnez, president of state nuclear company Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, as saying negotiations related to the China project need to be concluded with Beijing, but the aim is to start construction of a single Hualong One unit, or HPR1000, at Atucha during the second half of 2022.