Argentina and France extend nuclear collaboration

The agreement was signed by CNEA President Adriana Serquis and CEA's François Jacq at the 67th International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference, and will last for 10 years, with an option to be extended.

Cooperation will include information exchanges, reciprocal visits, organisation of seminars and workshops and joint studies and technical collaboration or research and development projects. It builds on the two countries' original agreement in 1994 and the 2010 one.

Serquis said the 2010 agreement had been pending renewal since 2021. The new agreement, she said, "seeks to expand the themes of that original agreement, considering both the nuclear plans of each country and the potential for bilateral ties in the areas of work of each institution, such as reactors, materials, small modular reactors, component testing, accelerators and nanotechnology."

France has 56 operable nuclear power plants, and has plans for a wave of new plants in the coming years. Argentina has three nuclear reactors generating about 7% of its electricity. It is also in the process of building the CAREM small modular reactor and the RA-10 radioisotope production and research reactor.