Dioxitek celebrates record UO2 production

Dioxitek was founded in 1996 to guarantee the secure and sustainable supply of uranium dioxide and strategic radioisotopes - notably cobalt-60 - for Argentina's energy, industrial, and medical development. The state-owned company is a subsidiary of the country's National Atomic Energy Commission, the CNEA.

It manufactures nuclear-grade ceramic uranium dioxide from several raw materials: uranium concentrate (U3O8, also known as yellowcake), uranium dioxide scrap, and ammonium diuranate. These components undergo a physicochemical purification and conversion process to produce nuclear-grade uranium dioxide (UO2) powder, which is used to manufacture fuel pellets for Argentina's three nuclear power plants at Atucha and Embalse.

The record 190 tonnes produced in 2025 was made possible by the comprehensive restructuring and reorganisation of Dioxitek, along with the planning and implementation of process improvements at the uranium dioxide production plant in Córdoba, the company said. It also noted the "effort and commitment" of its personnel. It also "suggests that it is possible to meet the total demand of the Atucha I and II and Embalse nuclear power plants and avoid importing this fuel", the company said.

The two units at Atucha, 100 km northwest of Buenos Aires, and a single unit at Embalse, 110 km southwest of Córdoba City, provide about 5% of Argentina's electricity. All three are pressurised heavy water reactors, operating on natural or slightly enriched uranium. (Pressurised heavy water reactors are designed to use natural uranium fuel, which contains about 0.7% of the fissile uranium-235 isotope, but using slightly enriched fuel - containing around 0.9% uranium-235 - can lead to improved fuel burnup, a measure of how much energy is extracted from the fuel).