Embalse nuclear power plant

Embalse Nuclear Power Station
Location of Embalse Nuclear Power Station in Argentina
Official name	Central Nuclear Embalse
Country	Argentina
Coordinates	32°13′55″S 64°26′35″W / 32.232°S 64.443°W / -32.232; -64.443Coordinates: 32°13′55″S 64°26′35″W / 32.232°S 64.443°W / -32.232; -64.443
Status	Renovating
Construction began	1974
Commission date	January 20, 1984
Operator(s)	Nucleoeléctrica Argentina Sociedad Anónima
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PHWR
Reactor supplier	CANDU
Power generation
Units operational	648 MW
Units under const.	683 MW
Thermal capacity	2,015 MWt
2009 output	5,192 GW·h
Website www.candu.org/nasa.html

The Embalse Nuclear Power Station (Spanish: Central Nuclear Embalse) is one of the three operational nuclear power plants in Argentina. It is located on the southern shore of a reservoir on the Río Tercero, near the city of Embalse, Córdoba, 110 km south-southwest of Córdoba City.

The plant is a CANDU Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). It employs natural uranium (that is, with 0.72% of ²³⁵U), and uses heavy water for cooling and neutron moderation. It has a thermal power of 2,109 MW_th, and generates 648 MW_e of electricity, with a net output of about 600 MW_e, supplying nearly 4.5% of the production of the Argentine Interconnection System (2005).

Additionally, Embalse produces the cobalt-60 radioisotope, which is employed in medicine (cancer therapy) and industrial applications. Argentina is one of the largest producers and exporters of this isotope in the world, along with Canada and Russia.

Embalse was started in 1974 and began operation in 1983 (first criticality March 13, 1983, declared commercial Jan 20 1984). It was built by an Italian-Canadian consortium formed by AECL, acting as the "turn-key" supplier of the nuclear portion, and , the "turn-key" supplier of the conventional portion.