Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Call for Nuclear Plant Closure

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 21 2005 (IPS) - Argentine environmental groups are opposed to a project to extend the life of the Embalse nuclear plant by 20 years. The energy plant was slated for closure in 2010. Located in the central province of Córdoba, Embalse has already suffered at least seven accidents of varying degrees, mostly involving leaks of heavy water and radioactive tritium into the nearby lake.

The National Ecologist Action Network, an umbrella of 70 environmental groups, charges that the plant ''must be closed'' as a step towards phasing out Argentina's use of nuclear energy.

Network director Raúl Montenegro told Tierramérica that activists propose a referendum on the fate of the power plant.