The Centena (Centro Tecnológico Nuclear e Ambiental) Project says it will be the first radioactive waste repository in Latin America. It will be a permanent storage solution for low- and medium-level radioactive waste material with a radioactive half-life limited to 30 years - as well as housing a technology centre for studies related to radioactive waste management.
In its 'clarification response' to reports suggesting Angra 1 and 2 might have to shut in 2030 if there is no new waste storage, the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) said progress was being made following the selection of a preferred site.
"The next step is the completion of the studies characterising the geophysical parameters, necessary for both nuclear and environmental licensing. CNEN has already hired a consultancy that is evaluating the documentation and the project itself, with construction expected to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2030. In other words, if the project starts in 2026, the repository could be completed in 2030, compatible with the 2031/2032 deadline for the storage capacity of the current repositories at the Angra dos Reis Nuclear Power Plant," the commission statement said.
It added: "If there are any delays in the construction and, consequently, in the completion of Centena, Eletronuclear is working with two possibilities. The first would be the reorganisation of the current storage facilities, which does not require a new environmental licensing process. There is also the possibility of constructing another waste storage facility, which would require a new licensing process, both nuclear and environmental."
"Financing of the construction and removal of the waste to this final repository ... will be provided by the Decommissioning Fund of the Angra 1 and Angra 2 plants, which was also established for this purpose.”
CNEN says the repository facilities in the southeast of the country, will cost approximately BRL130 million (USD24.2 million). It says that the existence of such a repository is a requirement for the environmental licensing process for the Angra 3 nuclear power unit, as well as that for the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor.
At the moment Brazil stores low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste at facilities by its existing nuclear power plants or in intermediate repositories. It says that the Centena project "brings a national solution for the safe storage of radioactive waste generated by the use of radioisotopes and nuclear energy in Brazil".
Brazil currently has two operating power reactors - Angra 1 and Angra 2 - which generate about 3% of the country’s electricity. Work on the Angra 3 project - to feature a Siemens/KWU 1405 MW pressurised water reactor - began in 1984 but was suspended two years later, before construction began. The scheme was resurrected in 2006, with first concrete in 2010. However, amid a corruption probe into government contracts, construction of the unit was halted for a second time in 2015, when it was 65% complete. It has since restarted and been halted again, with a decision currently awaited on completing it.
The aim is for construction on the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor to begin in 2026 and to be completed in 2030 with operations scheduled to begin in 2031. It descibes it as a priority for the country's nuclear sector.
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