He Economy Minister Sergio Massaheaded alongside the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royónthe signing of the specific agreement for the conservation, maintenance and conditioning for the start-up of the Heavy Water Industrial Plant (PIAP)between National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) and the Neuquén Company of Engineering Services State Society (ENSI).
During the act, in which the governor of the province of Neuquén, Omar Gutiérrez and the elected governor Rolando Figueroathe agreement was signed, which provides for an investment of National Treasure of more than 20,000 million pesos. It will last 25 months and will allow the reactivation of the largest heavy water production plant in the world, which has been paralyzed since 2017. With this investment, The National State accompanies and strengthens the development of electrical energy of nuclear origin in our country.
During the meeting, the Economy Minister stated that it is the “construction of a State policy, and that State policy is possible due to the work of the legislators to propose a specific acceptance of the resources”.
“It is not only a matter of providing resources, but also of intelligently distributing resources to generate strength and muscle for the State in its investigation.in the development of added value and in the strengthening of reserves”, said Massa.
Likewise, the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royón He maintained that “this plant is undoubtedly a milestone and values all the Argentine knowledge in the field of nuclear energy.” In this line, the Secretary explained that “the start-up of the heavy water plant has great significance due to the possibilities not only of providing heavy water for the technology of the nuclear plants that Argentina has today, but also the future possibilities of export that this means for our country”.
The signing of this agreement takes place after the intervention of the Ministry of Economy through the National Secretariat of Energy to bring the positions of CNEA and ENSIand obtain the financing required for the start-up of the PIAP.
The objective of the agreement is to carry out the necessary maintenance for the plant and begin the preparation work for the commissioning of PIAP, which will require a term of 25 months. Once that period has expired The necessary elements for its operation will be loaded, which will allow the production of heavy water to be restarted.
PIAP is located in the Neuquen provinceand its commissioning is essential for the production of the 485 tons that are needed to guarantee the provision of heavy water for the plants Atucha I, Atucha II and Embalse, until the end of their useful life.
They were present Ricardo CasalLegal and Administrative Secretary of the Ministry of Economy; Adriana Serquispresident of the National Atomic Energy Commission; Alejandro Monteiro, president of ENSI; the national deputies Tanya Bertoldi and Guillermo Carnaghi; Florence Alvarez NaughtyUndersecretary of Institutional Coordination of the Ministry of Energy, Federico Enriquez, Chief of the Energy Cabinet; ENSI and CNEA authorities, and union representatives, among others
Source: Ambito
