Juragua Nuclear Power Plant - Construction

Construction

The construction of the first reactor began in 1983 and the second in 1985. Most of the reactor parts, except for civil construction materials, were supplied by the Soviet Union under bilateral economic cooperation agreements. The first reactor was initially scheduled to be operational in 1993 by Cuban officials, but it was later estimated that the reactor would not be operational until late 1995 or early 1996. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union disrupted construction at Juragua, as a market economy established new economic ties and Russia began providing technical assistance to Cuba on a commercial basis. The plant was being built with the help of some 450 Russian technicians and 300 of them were withdrawn after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

At the behest of the Russian Federation, Cuba negotiated with European firms such as Siemens, Cegelec and Skoda to provide Instrumentation and Control equipment to upgrade the safety standards of the plant. In the 1970s Russia had successfully constructed Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant in Finland through a joint venture with Siemens to comply with Finnish nuclear regulations. In 1992 Siemens visited the Juragua plant and agreed to install the systems but Russia was unable to pay in hard currency as demanded. Cuba was also incapable of delivering the $21 million payment that Siemens was asking for. On September 5, 1992, Cuban President Fidel Castro announced a suspension of construction at Juragua due to Cuba's inability to meet the financial terms set by Russia to complete the reactors. Castro stated that more than 1.1 billion dollars had been invested.

A September 1992 GAO report estimated that civil construction on the first reactor ranged from 90 to 97% complete with only 37% of the reactor equipment installed, while the second reactor was only between 20 and 30% completed. The primary components had not been installed and the nuclear fuel was not delivered. Russian press reported that at least one reactor, without nuclear fuel, and its steam turbine set were delivered to Cuba.