The Atucha II Nuclear Power Plant achieved a perfect score of 100 out of 100 for the first time in the international performance index of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), while the Embalse Nuclear Power Plant scored 98.4 points during the second quarter of 2026.
This result places the plants operated by Nucleoeléctrica Argentina among the facilities with the best records in the international nuclear industry. In the case of Atucha II, this is the first maximum score obtained since it began operations in 2014.
Atucha II Nuclear Power Plant
The PI-Index developed by WANO allows for quarterly comparisons of the performance of nuclear plants and considers various aspects related to their performance. These include worker safety, radiological protection, chemical control of systems, equipment reliability, and load factor.
Atucha II thus ranked among the plants with the best results out of the 383 nuclear plants that are part of the association, while Embalse was just 1.6 points away from the maximum.
"These results reflect the experience, commitment, and technical capability of our teams," said the president of Nucleoeléctrica, Juan Martín Campos, who also highlighted that the performance achieved allows the company to project its knowledge into new international markets.
The numbers also add to the generation records set during 2025. Atucha II produced 5,408,372 megawatt-hours that year, while Embalse reached 5,352,202 megawatt-hours, the highest annual figures in their respective histories.
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The Secretary of Nuclear Affairs, Federico Ramos Napoli, linked the results to the process developed during the administration of President Javier Milei and also highlighted the progress of strategic projects for the sector.
Among them, he mentioned the life extension of Atucha I, a project aimed at allowing the plant to continue operating for another 20 years. Ramos Napoli stated that previous administrations had announced the initiative without securing the necessary resources and affirmed that the current administration has ensured funding and initiated the works. This is an assessment made by the official regarding the different stages of the project.
Ramos Napoli recently announced the commissioning of the Argentine nuclear reactor RA-10 for 2027
The nuclear policy is also undergoing other regulatory processes. In May 2026, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority renewed Atucha II's operating license for ten years, allowing it to continue operating until May 2036 after verifying compliance with the relevant requirements.
In parallel, Nucleoeléctrica seeks to deepen the export of services and technical assistance to international operators, leveraging more than five decades of experience in operation, maintenance, engineering, training, and execution of nuclear projects.
The strategy aims to convert these technical capabilities into new projects, commercial partnerships, generation of foreign currency, and specialized employment, now supported by the historic results obtained by Atucha II and Embalse under Milei's administration.
