The aim of the MoU is to build on the two companies’ existing collaboration by “agreeing to jointly support life extension projects, unit outages, and future nuclear developments in Canada and internationally, while enabling Candu Energy to contribute to opportunities within Argentina’s nuclear programme”.
There are 17 operable Candu nuclear units in Canada, with Argentina having one of the Canadian government-owned technology at Embalse, which was connected to the grid in 1983 and which underwent a three-year life extension upgrade programme completed in 2019.
Demian Reidel, President of Nucleoelectrica, said: “The world is experiencing a nuclear renaissance, and Argentina is ready to play a leading role in this new chapter. The signing of this agreement with Candu Energy reflects our ability to transform decades of accumulated experience and technical excellence into concrete value. It is not only about selling services, but about projecting Argentine nuclear expertise onto the international stage.”
In total there are currently 31 Candu reactors in operation around the world, including in South Korea, Romania and China.
Candu units are pressurised heavy water reactors designed to operate for 30 years, with a further 30 years available subject to refurbishment. This includes the replacement of key reactor components such as steam generators, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and feeder tubes. It involves removing all the reactor’s fuel and heavy water and isolating it from the rest of the power station before it is dismantled. Thousands of components, including those that are not accessible when the reactor is assembled, are inspected, and all 480 fuel channels and 960 feeder tubes are replaced during the high-precision rebuild.
AtkinsRéalis unveiled plans for the 1,000 MW Candu Monark, a Generation III+ reactor with the highest output of any Candu technology, in November 2023. It completed the conceptual design phase in September 2024 and is in the planning stage of a vendor design review with the Canadian nuclear regulator.
