The Embalse Nuclear Power Station (Spanish: Central Nuclear Embalse) is one of the two 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, and generates 648 MW of electricity, with a net output of about 600 MW, 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 and Italimpianti.
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