The nuclear reactor at the Atucha II plant started operating yesterday morning. Whilst this mean that the nuclear fission process has already begun to produce energy, it will be another 60 days until this energy can be transferred to the grid.
Construction of the nuclear plant began in 1982 but was interrupted in 1996 and later resumed in 2006. José Luis Antúnez, president of the state-owned company Nucleoeléctrica and project manager at Atucha II, confirmed that “we have reached the first criticality of the Atucha II reactor, which means the reactor has begun working.” He explained that “the reactor only starts up once and the machine remains working for many years. This plant will provide energy for 60 years.”
The power of the reactor will be gradually increased and it is expected to achieve full capacity by the end of the year. However, it will be ready to transfer electricity to the grid when it reaches 30% capacity.
Once it has reached full capacity, of 745 megawatts, Atucha II is expected to cover around 5% of the country’s electricity demand.
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