Brazil's Long-Delayed Angra III to Receive Construction Permit after Solving Residual Storage Issue

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The long-delayed 1,350-megawatt (MW) Angra III Nuclear Power Plant, owned by Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA (SAO:ELET6) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) subsidiary Eletronuclear (Rio de Janeiro), was granted an environmental permit on July 23 by environmental regulator IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais). The construction and installation permit will be awarded after 60 requirements are met, the most important of which is to provide a solution for the facility's residual storages. In the project's original storage system, residue would be stored in tanks as it is done in the 657-MW Angra I and the 1,350-MW Angra II.

Civil work had begun for Angra III in 1985, but further plans were shelved because of the lack of funds and unclear policies regarding nuclear energy. Brazil's federal Mines and Energy Ministry (Brasilia, Goias) and Eletronuclear expect to resume construction of the plant in September 2008. Construction will be carried out by engineering firm Andrade Gutierrez (Sao Paulo, Brazil). The major part of the equipment is already on-site, and 30% of the infrastructure has been built. Eletronuclear has spent about $750 million on the plant so far, and an additional $1.84 billion will be needed to complete the facility, which is planned to start operation in 2014.

Eletronuclear was established in 1997 to operate and construct nuclear power plants in Brazil. The company owns and operates the complex Central Nuclear Almirante Alvaro Alberto nuclear complex, which comprises Angra I, Angra II and Angra III. The complex is strategically located near the three principal state capital cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.

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