The Wall Street Journal just released an article stating that Argentina will complete its third nuclear power plant by the end of 2010. The nation's Planning Minister, Julio De Vido, said that the plant is called Atucha II, and that it will be completed ahead of schedule. It was previously thought to finish construction by the first or second quarter of 2011.
Atucha II, along with the Argentine-Paraguayan Yacreta hydroelectric plant, will add more than 2,000 megawatts of power generation to the country, increasing its capacity by 10%. The plants will go far toward decreasing the blackouts, which have heavily plagued the country for the last three years when natural gas began suffering shortages.
Strangely, Atucha II was originally thought to go live back in 1987, but political and economic forces conspired to sideline the project for more than 20 years. The plant will be built next to Atucha I, which went live in 1974. Argentina's second nuclear plant, Embalse, commenced operations in 1984. All tolled, the three plants will generate more than 1700 megawatts of power. Nuclear power accounts for more than 6% of Argentina's overall power generation.
