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Brazil starts up nuclear plant after 17-year delay
Brazil starts up nuclear plant after 17-year delay
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 14 (Reuters) - Brazil began starting up its
second nuclear reactor on a picturesque bay down the coast from Rio
de Janeiro on Friday, 17 years behind schedule and billions of
dollars over budget.
The Angra 2 station won authorisation late Thursday night from the
National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) to partially begin
operations despite opposition from environmental groups and some
residents concerned about its cost and safety.
``In a matter of days we should begin actually producing energy after
we complete a series of tests,'' said Ronaldo Fabricio, president of
Eletronuclear, the nuclear arm of the state-owned Eletrobras
(ELET6.SA) utility.
Angra 2 hopes to produce at 30 percent of capacity in the first
month. Following tests and further approval, it aims to reach 100
percent in the second month, according to Nuclear Industries of
Brazil (INB), another unit of Eletrobras.
The uranium-fuelled reactor is located inside Brazil's nuclear
complex at Angra dos Reis, an island-dotted bay 80 miles (130 km)
west of Rio, known as the summer playground for the city's rich and
famous.
With more than twice the power of Brazil's first nuclear station,
Angra 1, the reactor will supply energy for 5 million people. The two
plants together will meet 32 percent of Rio state's energy demand.
``This will be very important for Rio which still imports a lot of
its energy ... and it will help Brazil as a whole,'' Fabricio said.
Brazil's energy demand is expected to surge 6 percent this year.
But not everyone is cheering.
NO-NUKES ACTIVISTS FAIL
``Brazil stupidly spent billions of dollars to complete a nuclear
station that is completely unnecessary to meet its energy demands,''
said Ruy Goes, coordinator of Greenpeace's anti-nuclear campaign in
Brazil.
Angra 1 and 2 combined will only account for 3 percent of Brazil's
energy producing capacity. Almost 88 percent of Brazil's electricity
comes from hydroelectric dams and another 9 percent from natural gas-
fired plants.
``In the rest of the world, nuclear energy is being abandoned because
of the high risks and lack of solutions for nuclear waste,'' Goes
added.
The INB said in a statement that at 12 billion reais, or almost $7
billion at the current exchange rate, Angra 2 ``was two and a half
times above the normal cost of a nuclear station of the same model.''
Still, energy from Angra 2 will be 13 percent cheaper than
electricity produced at Brazil's biggest hydroelectric dam.
Critics also worry about escape routes and the plant's proximity to
Rio, Brazil's second biggest city. Angra 1, which began commercial
operations in 1985, has become notorious for its many shutdowns.
Officials counter that the proximity to Rio, as well as the country's
No. 1 and No. 4 cities, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte, give the Angra
complex an ideal location.
Construction of Angra 2 began in 1976 but was mired for years in
funding delays. With energy demand rising, the government decided to
revive the project in 1993. There are also talks of developing a
third nuclear station, Angra 3.
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