| A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR |
Welcome to the second year of NotiEn.In the first year we published articles on a wide variety of energy-related topics from the archives of the Latin America Data Base.Most of those early articles date back to 2000, and address issues such as natural gas, petroleum, hydroelectric power and alternative energy. Those articles examined both the production and policy sides of energy in the Americas.
Our correspondents will continue to cover those same topics in the subsequent years of NotiEn, addressing new developments and related factors, such as the impact of global climate-change discussions on energy decisions.
We start the second year with articles about two very interesting topics.Santiago-based correspondent Benjamin Witte-Lehbar writes about Argentina's nuclear power industry, and David Agren, based in Mexico City, offers a piece about the difficult budget decisions for Mexico's state-run oil company PEMEX in 2011.
Carlos Navarro - Editor
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Argentina Promises Nuclear Power Surge
By Benjamin Witte-Lebhar
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Left for decades on the proverbial back burner, Argentina's once cutting-edge but now very much dusty nuclear power sector is experiencing a real renaissance. For the first time in more than a quarter century, the country is preparing to open a new nuclear power plant, its third. More may be on the way as Argentina looks to ease its dependence on fossil fuels, particularly natural gas.
Then a regional pioneer, Argentina opened South America's first nuclear power plant in 1974: the 335 megawatt Atucha I facility. Approximately 115 km northwest of Buenos Aires in the town of Lima, Atucha I continues to generate electricity for the country's central grid, as does the 600 MW Embalse plant, which opened a decade later in the north-central province of Córdoba. Together the two nuclear facilities account for roughly 6% of Argentina's total installed generating capacity, estimated at approximately 24,000 MW. Read more...
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