Deactivating Angra 3 costs more than finishing work that took almost 40 years

Government goes, scandal comes, government returns and the Angra 3 nuclear plant, in the State of Rio de Janeiro, has continued under construction for almost 40 years. Opened in the 1980s, only 65% ​​of its works have been completed so far.

The problem is that, as the popular saying goes: “if it runs, it will catch you; if it stays, the animal will eat it.” There is no easy or cheap way out. To complete the project, the estimate is to spend around R$20 billion more. But in case of withdrawal, the loss is around R$26.5 billion, according to the Brazilian Association for the Development of Nuclear Activities (Abdan).

The amount of abandonment considers expenses with contract terminations and dismantling of what has already been built, loss of annual revenue and carbon footprint revenue, in addition to amounts already applied. The legal risks of breaching contracts are considered incalculable – and, of course, possible deviations from corruption as suspected in the past are immeasurable, but would increase the expense significantly.

Angra 3 is the third plant of the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto (CNAAA) and is called the twin of Angra 2 because they have the same German technology. The complex that houses them is in Angra dos Reis and is named in honor of the soldier and scientist who was one of the main organizers of the Brazilian nuclear program.

The complex also has Angra 1. For now, only 1 and 2 are open. All are operated by Eletronuclear, a subsidiary of ENBPar, a state-owned company created to manage Itaipu and Eletronuclear after the privatization of Eletrobras.

Angra 2 is the largest in operation in the country and operates with a power of 1,350 megawatts (MW). Angra 3 will have a capacity of 1,405 MW, enough to serve 4.5 million people, which is equivalent to 60% of the consumption in the state of Rio and 3% of Brazil’s consumption.

During these four decades of development, the soap opera Angra 3 has already gone through several chapters, such as bidding and budget restrictions. The big turnaround was in 2015, when the project fell under the investigations of Operation Lava Jato.

The works were suspended and resumed in 2022 with the Agis consortium, formed by Ferreira Guedes, Matricial and ADtranz, as part of the unit’s Critical Line Acceleration Plan. In the first half of 2024, another tender will be held to hire the company, or the consortium, which will complete the civil works and electromechanical assembly of the plant.

Celso Cunha, president of Abdan, explains that the work is not completely stopped: “There are companies that continue to do the technology, software, equipment, contracts continue to be tendered. This comes from previous investments that already exist.”

Regarding the works on the so-called Critical Line (carried out by the consortium), on December 12th, the technical area of ​​the Federal Audit Court (TCU) found that they are at a “very reduced pace”, with possible impacts on the construction schedule. completion of the project.

According to Cunha, today it would be unfeasible to deactivate Angra 3: “It would have a huge impact on ENBPar’s actions. Deactivating Angra 3 costs more than completing (the work) because you would have to pay all the contracts, suppliers, deactivate, decommission. When all this is added together, it is more expensive than completing it”, he assesses.

Eletronuclear’s forecast is that Angra 3 will come into operation at the end of 2028, but, says Cunha, based on his experience, he believes that this should only happen around 2030.

According to Eletronuclear, at the peak of the work, 7,000 direct jobs will be created, in addition to a much larger number of indirect jobs. There are currently around 1,000 workers at the construction site.

Meanwhile, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) is carrying out technical, financial and legal structuring and modeling work on the project to restart the Angra 3 Nuclear Power Plant with consultants hired by the Bank and Eletronuclear.

According to BNDES, the project schedule is being reviewed and will go through the validation process in the project’s governance bodies, including alignment with Eletronuclear’s new direction.