Nuclep, Eletronuclear sign Angra 3 heat exchangers agreement
30 May 2022
Brazil's Nuclebrás Equipamentos Pesados (Nuclep) and Eletronuclear have signed an agreement for the manufacture and delivery of new heat exchangers for the Angra 3 plant in a contract said to exceed BRL400 million (USD84 million).
There was a tour of the site after the agreement was signed (Image: Nuclep)
Electronuclear said last July it hopes to start operations at Angra 3, which is on the coast about 100 miles south west of Rio de Janeiro, in November 2026.
The agreement was signed by Nuclep's Carlos Henrique Silva Seixas, and Eletronuclear's Leonam Guimarães in the presence of the Governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro and the Federal Deputy Julio Lopes.
Lopes said: "Rio is the capital of the nuclear sector in Brazil. Nuclep is not the only company in Brazil capable of being part of the national nuclear development but it is the only one to manufacture what noone else can. Nuclep is a strategic asset for the country."
The governor said: "Rio has a clear energy vocation and I believe a lot in the nuclear sector. Nuclep is fundamental for Brazil. It is strategic for the nation and unique in what it produces for the energy, industrial and economic development of the State."
Brazil currently has two reactors - Angra 1 and Angra 2. Work on the Angra 3 project began in 1984 but was suspended two years later before construction began. The scheme was resurrected in 2006, with first concrete in 2010. But construction of the unit was halted for a second time in 2015, at a time it was 65% complete.
The project has since been revived and took a step forward last year when Eletronuclear announced in July 2021 the winners of a tender to complete Angra 3 - a Brazilian consortium comprising Ferreira Guedes, Matricial and ADtranz.
The so-called critical path acceleration plan for the unit includes completion of the concrete superstructure of the reactor building, and work on the electromechanical assembly, including the closure of the spherical steel containment structure and installation of the used fuel pool, the polar bridge and the semi-gantry crane, Eletronuclear said.
Researched and written by World Nuclear News