11 May 2012

Brazil Abandons New Build Plans

A top level Brazilian government official announced on 9 May 2012 that the country will not proceed with the previously stated plans to launch up to eight new nuclear power plants. “The last plan, which runs through 2020, does not envisage any (new) nuclear power station because there is no need for it”, the energy ministry’s executive secretary Marcio Zimmermann stated. “Demand is met with hydro-electrical power and complementary energy sources such as wind, thermal and natural gas.” According to AFP, the official also announced that over the coming decade the level of renewable energy would double from 8 to 16 percent. Nuclear power, with two operating reactors, currently generates 3 percent of the country’s electricity. One more unit is under construction.