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Brazil to launch small NPP construction with Rosatom soon — minister

Alexandre Silveira also praised collaboration with Russia on completing the third reactor at the Angra nuclear power plant in Rio de Janeiro state

BUENOS AIRES, May 13. /TASS/. The Brazilian government will soon unveil the launch of small modular reactor (low-capacity nuclear power plant) construction in cooperation with Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Minister of Mines and Energy of Brazil Alexandre Silveira said.

The initiative will help strengthen environmental protection in the Amazon region and phase out thermal power plants still running on fuel oil, the minister added. "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has instructed Rosatom to begin engaging with the Brazilian government shortly so we can move toward the development of small nuclear reactors, which will be vital for our energy future," he was quoted as saying by the Brazilian newspaper Estadao.

Silveira also praised collaboration with Russia on completing the third reactor at the Angra nuclear power plant in Rio de Janeiro state in southeastern Brazil. Rosatom is prepared to complete that project and take part in building additional NPPs across the country.

On May 9, Russian and Brazilian presidents Vladimir Putin and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held talks at the Kremlin. The Brazilian leader emphasized that constructing small nuclear plants with Russia would enhance the country’s energy stability. He also called for expanding cooperation with Moscow in the surveying and extraction of critical minerals.