Brazil: $540M for nuclear program
Wed Jul 11, 2:29 AM ET
SAO PAULO, Brazil - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that Brazil will budget about $540 million over eight years to complete its nuclear program, including uranium enrichment and possibly building a nuclear-powered submarine.
"I believe that this project could be the embryo for all we need from the point of view of nuclear energy and from the point of view of energy production," Silva told reporters Tuesday after visiting a navy research center in Sao Paulo state.
The country says its nuclear program is peaceful and it has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons.
In 2004, the Brazilian government drew attention when it refused unrestricted inspections by the International Atomic Energy Association, arguing that full access to its centrifuges would put it at risk of industrial espionage.
Inspectors said they were satisfied after monitoring the uranium that comes in and out of the centrifuges.
"Brazil can give itself the luxury of being one of the few countries in the world to control all the technology of the uranium enrichment cycle," Silva added. "Why not dream big, and say we want to arrive at the possibility of having a nuclear submarine?"
The navy's nuclear program, begun in 1979, has already mastered part of the enrichment process. But it lags in developing and constructing a reactor entirely from Brazilian technology, navy Adm. Julio Soares de Moura Neto said.
Silva has frequently touted nuclear power as a way to diversify Brazil's energy sources and meet growing demand in South America's largest nation and economy.
Last month, his government moved to restart work on a long-planned third nuclear power plant, Angra 3, which has been stalled since the 1980s by lack of funds.
Brazil's two operating nuclear plants, Angra 1 and Angra 2, have an installed capacity of about 2,000 megawatts. Angra 3 would raise capacity to 3,300 megawatts, at a cost of about $3.6 billion, according to the Mines and Energy Ministry.
Brazil's nuclear program began during a 1964-85 military dictatorship, and the ruling generals had secret plans to test an atomic bomb underground in the Amazon jungle. The idea was scrapped in 1990.
Silva's announcement came a day after the government's environmental protection agency gave preliminary approval to a $10 billion to $14.7 billion project to build two dams in the Amazon that would generate 6,450 megawatts, or 8 percent of current electricity demand.
Brazil: $540M for nuclear program
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