Milei vows to promote nuclear energy in Argentina

By AFP

Argentina's President Javier Milei vowed on Friday to install nuclear reactors to power artificial intelligence servers, which consume vast amounts of electricity.

"Nuclear energy is the only source that is sufficiently efficient, abundant and rapidly scalable to cope with the development of our civilization," Milei said.

The current generation of energy "will not be enough to supply this new demand (from AI), which is why we are convinced that a resurgence of nuclear energy is going to be generated throughout the world," he said in a video.

Argentina has three nuclear power plants in operation: Atucha I, Atucha II and Embalse.

As of July, nine percent of energy consumed in the country was nuclear, according to official data.

Running AI consumes a tremendous amount of electricity because it involves intensive computing operations.

As tech companies seek energy sources to meet this demand, while maintaining their zero-carbon emission commitments, some have pursued more nuclear power options, as well as wind and solar.

Demian Reidel, an advisor in charge of Argentina's nuclear initiative, said the first step would be "the construction of an SMR (small modular reactor) on the Atucha (nuclear power plant) site," although the technology is still in the development phase.

SMRs are nuclear reactors that are smaller in size and power-generating capacity than traditional reactors, and have the benefits of being more affordable and easily installed.

Russia began operating the first nuclear power plant with two SMRs in 2020, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Several SMR projects are under development or awaiting licensing in Argentina, Canada, China, South Korea and the United States.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi called Milei's announcement "promising" and stressed that nuclear energy "is a tool that Argentina has used over the last 70 years with marked success."

The country's National Atomic Energy Commission has been working for two decades on the construction of the CAREM small modular reactor, which critics say has stalled under conservative Milei's budget-slashing government.