Brazil announced Wednesday it has abandoned plans to build new nuclear power stations in the coming years, following last year's Fukushima disaster in Japan. The previous government led by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had planned to build between four and eight new nuclear facilities by 2030. But Marcio Zimmermann, a senior energy ministry official, was quoted as telling a forum Tuesday there was no need for new nuclear facilities for the next 10 years. “Demand is met with hydro-electrical power and complementary energy sources such as wind, thermal, and natural gas,” Zimmermann said in remarks released by the ministry Wednesday. Mauricio Tomalsquim, the president of EPE energy-research company, told the same event that since the 2011 Fukushima accident in Japan, “not just Brazil but the entire world stopped to analyze and assess.” Brazil operates one nuclear power station, located near Rio de Janeiro. The plant generates about 3 percent of the country's energy production, which relies overwhelmingly on hydroelectric installations. Brazil and Argentina are the only South American countries operating civilian nuclear power stations.
