Brazil has begun a process to identify sites for the new nuclear power units it plans to have in operation by 2050. The Ministry of Mines and Energy has secured cooperation of specialists at Cepel for a siting study.

The Brazilian government's plans to privatise its Eletrobras electricity group have been given a key approval. Its subsidiary Eletronuclear will remain under state control and will have more ability to raise funds and make contracts to complete the third reactor at the Angra nuclear power plant.

Eletronuclear has announced the winners of a tender to complete unit 3 of the Angra nuclear power plant in Rio de Janeiro. A Brazilian consortium comprising Ferreira Guedes, Matricial and ADtranz submitted the winning bid of Real 292 million (USD56.1 million), which Eletronuclear said is 16% lower than the reference value for the project. In total, two companies and five consortia participated in the opening session of the proposals, held on 29 June.

Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development has hired a consortium to structure the project for the completion of the Angra 3 nuclear power plant in Rio de Janeiro. Contracting of the Angra Eurobras NES consortium - Tractebel Engineering Ltda, Tractebel Engineering SA and Grouped Entrepreneurs International SA - is part of the technical services that BNDES has been providing the Angra plant's owner Eletronuclear since 2019.

The first multi-purpose canister containing fuel has been loaded into a HI-STORM FW module and placed into the new on-site used fuel dry storage facility at Brazil's Angra nuclear power plant, Holtec International has announced. This marks the official start of the storage facility's planned 50 years of operation as well as the first use of Holtec's HI-TRAN 300 single-failure proof vertical heavy load hauler.

Leonardo Mendes Cabral, director of privatisations at Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development, says he expects a financing arrangement to finish unit 3 of the Angra nuclear power plant will be ready by the end of next year. BNDES is one of the biggest providers of financing for infrastructure projects in Brazil, and also played a role in financing nuclear energy in the past.

Brazil's Eletronuclear published a notice in the country's official journal, Diário Oficial da União, on 25 February inviting bids for a contract to conduct civil work at unit 3 of its Angra nuclear power plant, and to perform part of the electromechanical assembly. Eletronuclear said the aim of the tender is "to advance some construction activities" before hiring a contractor to complete the construction of the unit.

Industrias Nucleares do Brasil has started mining uranium from the new open-pit Engenho mine at Caetité, in Brazil's Bahia state. It is hoped that resumption of uranium production at the site will make the country self-sufficient in fuel for its nuclear power reactors. A ceremony was held yesterday at the mine site, during which a detonation was carried out, symbolising the beginning of open pit mining in a new area, the Engenho mine.

The world needs countries, such as Brazil, to step up and lead the way by expanding their nuclear capacity to help contribute to a sustainable energy future, said Agneta Rising, former director general of World Nuclear Association. She was speaking ahead of the World Nuclear University Short Course World Nuclear Industry Today to be held online in Brazil next week.

Driving investment towards nuclear energy projects depends strongly on the perception and evaluation of the costs associated with them, Leonam dos Santos Guimarães, CEO of Eletronuclear, told participants in World Nuclear Association's Strategic eForum last week. Brazil has two nuclear reactors generating about 3% of its electricity, but construction of a third is currently stalled.

Brazil's Investment Partnership Programme council has approved a plan to complete unit 3 of the Angra nuclear power plant. Created by the government to expand and strengthen the relationship between the state and the private sector, the PPI's main objective is to generate jobs and growth for the country through new investments in infrastructure projects and privatisation.

Holtec International delivered the first five of 15 modules for an on-site used fuel dry storage facility to Brazil's Angra nuclear power plant last week. The new storage facility, set to be commissioned at the end of this year, will create space in the almost full storage pools of units 1 and 2, allowing their continued operation.