China Nuclear Deal Held Up Over Argentina’s Reactor Fuel Demand
- Buenos Aires insists on the right to manufacture the fuel
- Outcome of negotiations could weigh on global nuclear market
An Argentina prototype of the low-enriched uranium fuel assembly designed for its Carem small-modular reactor.
Source: Argentine National Atomic Energy CommissionThis article is for subscribers only.
Months after an announcement that China will build and largely finance an $8 billion nuclear power plant outside Buenos Aires, the deal is hung up over Argentina’s demand that its engineers be permitted to manufacture the reactor fuel domestically.
Becoming the first nation licensed to make fuel for China’s Hualong One reactor would greatly advance Argentina’s atomic program. It would also signal that China is willing to license technology to trading partners, following a commercial pathway blazed by US nuclear manufacturers.