Javier Milei wants to establish new nuclear reactors in Argentina

“Nuclear energy is the only energy that is sufficiently efficient, abundant and rapidly scalable to cope with the development of our civilization.” In a video published Friday, December 20, Argentine President Javier Milei announced his desire to install new nuclear reactors in his country to meet energy demand in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

With the current mode of energy production, “we will not be able to respond to this new demand” of AI, continued Javier Milei. Argentina currently has three nuclear power plants: Atucha I, Atucha II and Embalse. According to official data, 9% of the energy consumed in the country in July 2024 was of nuclear origin. The first step will be “the construction of an SMR reactor on the Atucha site”near Buenos Aires, according to Demian Reidel, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The SMRs («small modular reactor» in English) are smaller and simpler in construction than conventional power plants.

An announcement «promising»

According to the IAEA, in 2020 Russia inaugurated the first power plant operating using SMR technology. Several ongoing SMR projects in Argentina, Canada, China, South Korea and the United States are awaiting authorization. The former president of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), Adriana Serquis (2021-2024), pointed out a “huge contradiction” in the announcement of the Argentine president, accusing him of “deny or ignore the fact that a project already exists” SMR type reactor in Argentina “very close to completion, called CAREM, recognized in international analyzes as one of the most advanced” et “which is to be put into service in 2028”.

But since Javier Milei took office at the end of 2023, “the construction of CAREM has been slowed down to the point of practically stopping”former Secretary of Planning and Policy of the Ministry of Science Diego Hurtado (2019-2023) told the newspaper Página12. As part of his plan “chainsaw” to cut public spending, Javier Milei cut more than 30,000 jobs in the public sector and reduced the budget devoted to science and technology. According to data from the state employees' union, CNEA employees have lost 30% of their purchasing power since December 2024.