Argentina’s nuclear utility Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA (NA-SA) has awarded a contract valued at more than $15m to Canada’s SNC-Lavalin to provide management and technical guidance for the refurbishment of the single-unit Embalse NPP. SNC-Lavalin said it will send 30 subject matter experts and reactor specialists to Argentina to undertake the refurbishment work, which includes replacing main reactor components and balance of plant (BOP) equipment. Embalse, a Candu-6 pressurised heavy water reactor which began commercial operation in December 1984, was shut down in December 2015 for a $1bn project aimed at extending its service life by 25 years and increasing its 648MWe gross capacity to 683MWe through turbine and generator upgrades.
