Eletronuclear obtained the renewal of the operating license for the Angra 1 plant for another 20 years. The deadline runs until December 2044. The company received authorization from the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) this Thursday (21).
The total investment will be R$3.2 billion between 2023 and 2027. The amounts will be invested in four installments of approximately R$720 million in the first four years (2023 to 2026) and R$320 million in 2027.
The process of extending the useful life of Angra 1 began in 2019, when the license renewal was officially requested. Since then, the company has created an exclusive working group to comply with all the requirements of the regulatory body and carry out the complete modernization of the plant.
The extension of the useful life of Angra 1 can be considered the first major achievement in relation to the company’s priority projects, which is also working to resume construction of Angra 3. This last goal depends on a decision by the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE).
The favorable decision was celebrated by the president of Eletronuclear, Raul Lycurgo. He compared Angra 1 to plants in the United States, with the same characteristics, which have already received approval to operate for up to 80 years. Lycurgo highlighted the work carried out over the last five years by the company’s technical area.
Cove 1
The first Brazilian nuclear plant entered commercial operation in 1985 with a pressurized water reactor (PWR), the most used in the world. With 640 megawatts of power, the project delivers enough energy to supply a city of 2 million inhabitants and supplies the national electricity system 24 hours a day.
In 2023, Angra 1 generated 4.78 million MWh. The load factor – which represents the net electrical energy actually delivered to the National Interconnected System divided by the capacity of Angra 1 – over the last five years is 88.24%. In other words, it is as if the plant had operated 322 days a year at its maximum capacity.
Angra 1 was acquired from the American company Westinghouse in the form turn keya closed package that did not provide for technology transfer from suppliers. However, the experience accumulated by Eletronuclear in all these years of commercial operation, with efficiency indicators that surpass those of similar plants, allows the company today to have the capacity to develop a continuous program of technological improvement and incorporate advances from the nuclear industry.
