Empresas públicas, tecnología y desarrollo V. El ciclo del combustible nuclear argentino: la Planta Industrial de Agua Pesada (PIAP)
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Instituto Nacional de la Administración Pública
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La tradición nuclear en la Argentina nace en 1950 con la creación de la Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), promovida por el entonces presidente Juan Domingo Perón. El objetivo de la institución era promover el estudio y el desarrollo de aquellos aspectos vinculados a la utilización pacífica de la energía nuclear. En ese contexto, entre las décadas de los cincuenta y los setenta, comenzaría a conformarse un complejo nuclear e industrial basado en instalaciones científicas y tecnológicas de la CNEA a lo largo y ancho del país.
En este camino, el organismo inició diversas acciones, entre ellas la extracción, purificación y conversión del uranio y la producción de radioisótopos para aplicaciones medicinales. Esta actividad llevó a la creación de empresas con alta tecnología para el desarrollo de procesos y la producción de bienes y servicios acordes a los planes nucleares.
En 1968 se iniciaron las obras de la primera central nuclear de potencia de la Argentina y de América Latina, Atucha I, cuyo objetivo era abastecer de energía eléctrica los polos productivos del Gran Buenos Aires y el Litoral. En 1973 comenzó la construcción de la Central Nuclear de Embalse, Córdoba, inaugurada en 1984, y en 1980 se inició la obra de Atucha II, la cual fue puesta en operación en 2014, luego de que la obra estuviera paralizada entre 1994 y 2006. Todas estas centrales empezarían a utilizar uranio natural producido en el país como combustible.
La Argentina es uno de los 12 países (además de los Estados Unidos, el Reino Unido, la Federación de Rusia, Francia, China, Alemania, Pakistán, Corea del Norte, Japón, India y Brasil) que lograron completar el proceso de enriquecimiento de uranio. Sin embargo, en los comienzos del Plan Nuclear Argentino, este proceso no estaba contemplado, ya que el país se había decidido por la línea de reactores con uranio natural y agua pesada. Fue luego del endurecimiento del Tratado de No Proliferación —provocado por la explosión atómica en la India de 1974— y de la sanción de la Ley de No Proliferación Nuclear en los Estados Unidos de 1978 —que prohibía la provisión de uranio enriquecido a países no firmantes del tratado—, que el país decidió comenzar el desarrollo de la tecnología de enriquecimiento.
En los estudios de preinversión realizados para la construcción de cada central ya aparecía como meta crucial, aunque lejana, la necesidad de completar el ciclo del combustible, esto es, disponer de todas las tecnologías para la producción industrial de los insumos necesarios (como el agua pesada y los elementos combustibles) para el funcionamiento de una central de potencia. El agua pesada que requerían estos reactores, si bien significaba también cierto grado de dependencia de fuentes extranjeras, podía obtenerse de más de un proveedor y se trataba de un compromiso a corto plazo, dado que la producción de agua pesada pasaría a ser una de las prioridades de la CNEA (Hurtado, 2014).
Para dar cumplimiento a esa prioridad, la CNEA se abocó a la construcción de una planta para la producción de agua pesada en Arroyito, Neuquén: la Planta Industrial de Agua Pesada (PIAP). Fue finalizada en 1991, al mismo tiempo que la Empresa Neuquina de Servicios de Ingeniería S.E. (ENSI S.E.) se hizo cargo de su operación. La primera producción fue obtenida en 1994.
The nuclear tradition in Argentina began in 1950 due to the creation of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), promoted by President Juan Domingo Perón. Its main aim was to promote the study and development of those aspects related to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In thas context, between the 1950’s and the 1970’s, a nuclear and industrial complex began to take shape in Argentina based on scientific and technological facilities of the CNEA throughout the country. Along that path, the CNEA initiated several actions, including the extraction, purification and conversion of uranium and the production of radioisotopes for medicinal applications. This activity led to the creation of companies with high technology for the development of processes and the production of goods and services in accordance with the nuclear plans. In 1968, the first nuclear power plant in Argentina and Latin America, Atucha I whose objective was to supply electrical energy to the productive poles of greater Buenos Aires and the Litoral, started to work. Construction of the Embalse Nuclear Power Plant, inaugurated in 1984, started to work in 1973, and construction of Atucha II in 1980, which was put into operation in 2014 after it was stopped between 1994 and 2006. All these plants used natural uranium produced in Argentina as fuel. Argentina is one of the 12 countries (United States, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, France, China, Germany, Pakistan, North Korea, Japan, India and Brazil) that managed to complete the uranium enrichment process. However, at the beginning of the Argentine nuclear plan this process was not contemplated since the country had decided on the line of reactors with natural uranium and heavy water. It was after the tightening of the Non-Proliferation Treaty caused by the atomic explosion in India in 1974 and the enactment of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act in the United States in 1978, which prohibited the supply of enriched uranium to countries that were not signatories to the Treaty, that Argentina decided to start the development of enrichment technology. In the pre-investment studies carried out for the construction of each plant, the needed to complete the fuel cycle, that is, to have all the technologies for the industrial production of the necessary inputs such as water, already appeared as a crucial goal, although distant. The heavy water required by these reactors, while also implying some degree of reliance on foreign sources, could be obtained from more than one supplier and was a short-term commitment, as heavy water production would become one of the priorities of the CNEA (Hurtado, 2014). To comply with this priority, CNEA undertook the construction of a plant for the production of heavy water in Arroyito, Neuquén, called the Heavy Water Industrial Plant (PIAP). This plant was completed in 1991, at the same time that the Empresa Neuquén de Servicios de Ingeniería S.E. (ENSI S.E.) took over its operation. The first production was obtained in 1994.
The nuclear tradition in Argentina began in 1950 due to the creation of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), promoted by President Juan Domingo Perón. Its main aim was to promote the study and development of those aspects related to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In thas context, between the 1950’s and the 1970’s, a nuclear and industrial complex began to take shape in Argentina based on scientific and technological facilities of the CNEA throughout the country. Along that path, the CNEA initiated several actions, including the extraction, purification and conversion of uranium and the production of radioisotopes for medicinal applications. This activity led to the creation of companies with high technology for the development of processes and the production of goods and services in accordance with the nuclear plans. In 1968, the first nuclear power plant in Argentina and Latin America, Atucha I whose objective was to supply electrical energy to the productive poles of greater Buenos Aires and the Litoral, started to work. Construction of the Embalse Nuclear Power Plant, inaugurated in 1984, started to work in 1973, and construction of Atucha II in 1980, which was put into operation in 2014 after it was stopped between 1994 and 2006. All these plants used natural uranium produced in Argentina as fuel. Argentina is one of the 12 countries (United States, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, France, China, Germany, Pakistan, North Korea, Japan, India and Brazil) that managed to complete the uranium enrichment process. However, at the beginning of the Argentine nuclear plan this process was not contemplated since the country had decided on the line of reactors with natural uranium and heavy water. It was after the tightening of the Non-Proliferation Treaty caused by the atomic explosion in India in 1974 and the enactment of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act in the United States in 1978, which prohibited the supply of enriched uranium to countries that were not signatories to the Treaty, that Argentina decided to start the development of enrichment technology. In the pre-investment studies carried out for the construction of each plant, the needed to complete the fuel cycle, that is, to have all the technologies for the industrial production of the necessary inputs such as water, already appeared as a crucial goal, although distant. The heavy water required by these reactors, while also implying some degree of reliance on foreign sources, could be obtained from more than one supplier and was a short-term commitment, as heavy water production would become one of the priorities of the CNEA (Hurtado, 2014). To comply with this priority, CNEA undertook the construction of a plant for the production of heavy water in Arroyito, Neuquén, called the Heavy Water Industrial Plant (PIAP). This plant was completed in 1991, at the same time that the Empresa Neuquén de Servicios de Ingeniería S.E. (ENSI S.E.) took over its operation. The first production was obtained in 1994.