Electricity Supply at Risk as Operation Lava Jato May Halt Angra Plants

08/27/2015 - 09h28

Involved in the bribery scheme investigated by the Federal Police's Operation Lava Jato, Eletronuclear does not have the funds to pay off a debt of R$500 million (USD $140 million) for the fuel for Angra 1 and 2, meaning that the plants are at risk of closure in six months.

The two plants account for 1.4% of the energy on the Brazilian national grid - enough to supply almost half of the state of Rio de Janeiro for a year.

The nuclear fuel used by the plants is currently supplied by Nuclear Industries of Brazil (INB, in its Portuguese abbreviation), a state owned company that holds a monopoly on uranium exploration in Brazil. It has been demanding the outstanding funds from Eletronuclear for six months.

Eletronuclear is a subsidiary of Eletrobrás, both of which are currently under investigation by the Federal Police.

Discussions regarding the payment have been halted since the end of July, when Admiral Othon Luiz Pinheiro, former Eletronuclear president, was arrested. He is accused of receiving bribes from the construction firms building Angra 3.

The case has provoked a spat between the Ministry of Science and Technology - to which the INB is linked - and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which accounts for Eletronuclear.

Folha has learnt that Aldo Rebelo, minister for science and technology, tried to reach an agreement with mines and energy minister Eduardo Braga two weeks ago, but the negotiations were not successful.

Braga will not explain why Eletronuclear has no funds to pay off the debt. In correspondence, the company has said merely that it "has financial problems" and the case continues unresolved.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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	Vanderlei Almeida - 14.abr.2011/AFP
	Aerial picture of the Angra 3 nuclear plant under construction in Angra dos Reis, south of Rio de Janeiro