Brazil to authorize 3 new nuclear plants

[Judi Lynn]

Brazil to authorize 3 new nuclear plants
Reuters

June 30, 2008 at 6:22 PM EDT

SAO PAULO — Brazil's government will commission three new nuclear plants in the coming 12 months, Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said on Monday.

"We are projecting three more nuclear power plants that should be licensed within one year or slightly more," he told journalists at an event in Sao Paulo.

The government is considering allowing private sector participation in the plants, but state-run Eletrobras would remain their majority shareholder, Mr. Lobao told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar.

"Angra 3, which we are building now, will be 1,300 megawatts. The size of the others has not been defined," he said.

The plants would be located principally in Brazil's northeast, he added, but also in the centre-south.

The Brazilian government has indicated four to eight nuclear plants could be built in the country by 2030.

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