Argentina:
Program for the privatization of three nuclear
power plants and the Yacyretá hydroelectric scheme.
International calls to tender will be issued
in the second and fourth quarters of this year.
Date: May 1998
Source: Argentine Up Date.
Bi-monthly Bulletin published by the Cabinet of Economic
Advisors al the Ministry of Economy and Public Works and Services.
In the second quarter of this year there will be an international call to tender for the privatization of three uranium-fueled nuclear power stations. In addition, in the fourth quarter of 1998 a tender will be called for a contract to operate, complete and maintain the Yacyretá hydroelectric scheme at a storage height of 83 feet above sea level. Once this height is reached it will be generating more than five times the energy produced by El Chocón and almost twice that of the Aswan Dam in Egypt. It will permit a saving of 4 million tons of oil per year.
Privatization of nuclear power stations
The Government, via the Energy Secretariat, will privatize as a single business unit the Atucha I and Embalse nuclear power stations, both of which are in operation, and Atucha II, which is under construction. The awardee will be required to complete the latter station in 6 years. Atucha I and Embalse between them have been generating approximately 15% of the country's electricity in the last 10 years, while their gross installed power represents about 7 per cent of power available in Argentina.
Privatization will take place following international public bidding, the tender being made in the form of two envelopes. Envelope No.1 will contain the technical credentials of the bidders, and Envelope No. 2 will contain the price offered for the shares. The first step in the privatization was the issue of Decree 1540/90 which separated the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) from the power station assets, which were transferred to Nucleoeléctrica Argentina Sociedad Anónima (NASA). NASA has annual sales of US$ 200/220 million from the energy generated by the two active power stations.
The mentioned decree also established the creation of a Nuclear Regulator based on the former Management for Regulatory Affairs, ensuring that the Regulator remains independent from the CNEA.
Data on the Atucha I, Embalse and Atucha II nuclear power stations
|
Name |
Gross electrical power |
Availability factor in 1997 |
Type of reactor |
Fuel in the core |
|
Atucha I |
357,000 kilowatts |
92.74 % |
PHWR- Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor |
38.6 tons of uranium in the form of uranium dioxide in 253 fuel elements. |
|
Embalse |
648,000
kilowatts
|
99. 96 % |
Candú- Deuterio
pressurized Horizontal tubes
|
84 tons of uranium in the form of uranium dioxide in
4560 fuel elements
|
|
Atucha II |
745,000
kilowatts
|
---- |
--- |
---- |
Source: Nucleoeléctrica Argentina Sociedad Anónima
In April 1997 Congress approved Law No. 24,804, covering the following aspects:
- creation of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority as the successor to the National Nuclear Regulator and determination of its functions;
- determination of the role of the CNEA;
- establishing of federal jurisdiction over existing nuclear installations ;
- declaration of the nuclear electricity-generating industry as subject to privatization.
The Government, in the process of privatizing the NASA via the Energy Secretariat, has resolved that it will sell 89% of the shares to private investors, with a further 10% being kept for the Employee Stock Ownership Program established by Law 23,696. The remaining one per cent will be retained by the Government, granting it the right to veto.
The future power-station operator will have to take out a US$80 million nuclear accident risk insurance policy for each nuclear installation. The operator will have to contribute during the useful life of each power station to a fund for the Administration and Disposal of Nuclear Waste, as well as to a Decommissioning Fund. Actual decommissioning and waste disposal will be the responsibility of the CNEA.
The power stations currently operate on a 24-hour per day schedule, thus being considered as base generators, and will continue to be so in accordance with the regulations of the Wholesale Electricity Market. The energy generated by these power stations will be sold on the spot market or through contracts that the company exploiting the business shall be free to enter into with customers. The successor to NASA will be party to a contract with the CNEA for the supply of nuclear fuel to meet the "fuel cycle" that will stipulate a declining cost for the fuel until the price is competitive internationally.
It should be noted that the Atucha I nuclear power station uses fuel elements that are so far only manufactured in Argentina.
Atucha II Nuclear Power Station
The Atucha II Nuclear Power Station, with a gross design power of 745,000 kilowatts, is the property of NASA, with ENACE S.A. acting as architects and engineers. The latter is a company made up by the State, via the Energy Secretariat - holding 75% of the capital - and Siemens, with the remaining 25%. ENACE S.A. acts for account and by order of NASA, and will also be privatized, the shares of the state being transferred to NASA for inclusion in its assets at the time of privatization. The engineering, design and principal components of Atucha II are provided by Siemens, which is linked to NASA by means of three main contracts. The project is under construction (work began in 1980) and is at around 80% of completion. Both the completion date and the amount of investment still needed for completion can be determined with precision by any expert firm becoming responsible for completion of the project. Financing for US$ 350 million is available for the purchase of imported supplies and services, as well as for assembly costs.
Yacyretá: completion and operation of the scheme
The Yacyretá hydroelectric scheme administered by the Bi-national Yacyretá Entity (EBY) is a joint Argentine and Paraguayan venture. By means of an international call to tender the EBY will contract the operation, maintenance and termination of the works necessary to permit the raising of the water level in the dam to its final height of 83 meters above sea level as planned in the original project. The scheme is currently operating with water at a height of 76 meters .
The scheme is situated on the river Paraná on the border between Paraguay and Argentina, at the level of the islands of Yacyretá and Apipé, some 70 kilometers to the west of the cities of Posadas (Argentina) and 30 kilometers from Encarnación in Paraguay. For further reference, the site is 1000 kilometers to the north of the city of Buenos Aires and 300 kilometers from Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.
To build the power station, the spillways and the navigation locks required the movement of 22.7 million cubic meters of earth and 4.17 million cubic meters of rock. Construction required the use of 3.1 million cubic meters of concrete. To make navigation possible both up-stream and down-stream a lock has been built that overcomes a 24-meter difference in height. The lock has a width of 27 meters and a length of 270 meters.
Features of the Power station
Nominal estimated power 3,100,000 kilowatts
Maximum installed power 3,200,000 kilowatts
Average annual generation 20,000,000 kilowatt hours
Design head 21,3 meters
Maximum head 24,1 meters
Maximum flow through turbines 16,600 cubic meters per second
Turbines 20 units
Source: Energy Secretariat
The river has an average mean flow on the basis of records for the period 1971 to 1995, of 14,300 meters per second, with a maximum (1905) of 53,000 cubic meters per second and a minimum (1944) of 2,900 cubic meters per second. The Master Plan for Environmental Management includes the recovery and protection of natural resources and control of water quality. An "elevator" is planned to transfer fish from one side of the dam to the other, essential for the reproduction of species that spawn upstream.
The basin covers an area of 970,000 square kilometers . The lake that will be formed when the water height of 83 meters above sea level is reached will cover 1,600 square kilometers, eight times the surface of the city of Buenos Aires. Electricity is generated by 20 turbines with a diameter of almost 10 meters. The flow through one of these turbines in one hour is equal to twice the volume of water consumed by the city of Buenos Aires.
The scheme consists of the following:
- An earth dam with a length of 64.7 kilometers, with a crest at a maximum of 87.75 meters above sea level. Together with the main concrete structures closing off the perimeter at the highest regions on the Argentine left bank and the Paraguayan right bank, the total length is 67 kilometers.
- A hydroelectric power station with a maximum installed power capacity of 3,200,000 kilowatts and an annual average generation of 20 million kilowatt-hours. The station is equipped with 20 Kaplan-type turbines with a capacity of 160,000 kilowatts each, for a maximum head of 24.1 meters and 20 generators with a nominal power of 172,500 kilowatt-amperes each.
- A navigation lock with a length of 270 meters, a width of 27 meters and a minimum guaranteed draught of 3.66 meters, with the corresponding upstream and downstream channels and a highway swing bridge. The maximum height to be overcome by the lock is 24.1 meters.
- Two spillways together able to evacuate up to 95,000 cubic meters per second with the dam at 84.5 meters above sea level. One spillway is located on the main branch, with 18 radial gates 15 meters wide and 19.5 meters high. The other spillway is on the Aña Cua branch and contains 16 radial gates 15 meters wide and 16.5 meters high.
- A water intake for irrigation on each shore with a maximum evacuation of 108 cubic meters per second each.
- for the protection of the Arroyo Aguapey basin.
- Works for the protection of the Tacuarey basin.
- Works to regulate flows for the maintenance of the level of the Aña Cua branch for ecological reasons.
- An international highway running along the crest of the dam, linking National Highway 12 in Argentina with Route 1 in Paraguay.
