Minister of GSI-PR and CEO of ENBPar accompanied PROSUB’s progress in Iperó (SP)
Edwaldo Costa – Iperó, SP
The Navy’s Director-General for Nuclear and Technological Development (DGDNTM), Admiral Petronio Augusto Siqueira de Aguiar, and the Advisor to the Navy’s Director-General for Nuclear and Technological Development, Admiral Alexandre Rabello de Faria, received the Minister of the Office of Institutional Security of the Presidency of the Republic (GSI-PR), Admiral Alexandre Rabello de Faria, on Thursday (7), the Minister of the Office of Institutional Security of the Presidency of the Republic (GSI-PR), Army General Marcos Antonio Amaro dos Santos, and the CEO of the Brazilian Company of Nuclear and Binational Energy Holdings (ENBPar), Luis Fernando Paroli, at the Aramar Nuclear Industrial Center (CINA), in Iperó (SP), located around 120 km from the capital.
On that occasion, the authorities discussed the Brazilian Nuclear Program (PNB) and the Submarine Development Program (PROSUB), which was conceived in 2008, through a partnership between Brazil and France, and is part of a broad Strategic Program of the Brazilian State.
At CINA, the groups visited the facilities of the Uranium Hexafluoride Plant, where the processed uranium ore is converted into gas, the Nuclear Power Generation Laboratory (LABGENE), where the land-based prototype of the nuclear plant that will power the Conventionally Armed Nuclear-Propelled Submarine is being built, and the Isotopic Enrichment Laboratory, where the uranium enrichment process takes place in ultracentrifuges developed by Brazilians.
In the future, this totally national technology could also be used in civilian applications, providing benefits for other sectors such as nuclear power, medicine, agriculture and food safety.
The GSI Minister praised PROSUB and spoke of the importance of mastering the reactor construction technology and its dual use (military and civilian), both for the Brazilian Nuclear Program and for society.
“PROSUB involves a technology that few countries in the world have already obtained. We are making a huge leap forward in terms of technology gains, technology that is not only applicable for Defense purposes, but is also applicable in other sectors, especially nuclear medicine. The Conventionally Armed Submarine with Nuclear Propulsion will elevate Brazil to a category of prominence on the international stage,” said the Minister.
PROSUB also strengthens sectors of national industry of strategic importance to the country’s economic development, prioritizing the acquisition of components manufactured in Brazil.
As far as the nuclear area is concerned, however, there is no exchange of knowledge. All the nuclear technology for PROSUB is being developed in Brazil, at the facilities of the Navy Technology Center in São Paulo (CTMSP). Admiral Petronio commented that investing in nuclear technology is also a commitment to future generations and diversifying the energy matrix means security.
For ENBPar’s CEO, this visit was very important because it brought the Navy even closer to ENBPar, a public company linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. In addition to Eletronuclear, which is responsible for operating the Angra 1 and Angra 2 thermonuclear power plants and for completing work on the Angra 3 plant, ENBPar controls Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil, which operates in the “nuclear fuel cycle”, which includes mining, processing, enriching uranium and manufacturing the fuel that supplies Eletronuclear’s plants.
“Mastering the nuclear fuel cycle for almost two decades gives us the certainty of Brazil’s ability to be one of the leaders in the process of decarbonizing the world economy. All the technology developed for the defense of Brazilian waters is fundamental for the safe generation of nuclear energy, which must increasingly be part of the national energy matrix. When PROSUB advances, Brazil advances on several fronts, increasing the responsibility and challenges of ENBPar and its subsidiaries,” explained CEO Paroli.
Source: Agência Marinha de Notícias *** Translated by iDEFCONPress FYI Team ***