NBEPar discusses legal framework in the House of Representatives

NBEPar participated in a meeting of the Committee on Mines and Energy of the Chamber of Deputies on April 7, which discussed the need to create a legal framework for the development of small nuclear reactors. CEO Ney Zanella dos Santos reinforced the importance of micro and small reactors as an innovative energy solution, developed to provide reliable, clean and continuous electricity in various contexts, such as remote communities, industrial operations and off-shore platforms, among others.

Zanella gave an account of the first microreactor that is being developed in Brazil by Terminus, a company controlled by NBEPar, with private resources and Finep – Financer of Studies and Projects and partnership of CNEN – National Nuclear Energy Commission, of research institutes and universities. The president of the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN), Francisco Rondinelli Junior, also gave a presentation of the prototype of the microreactor.

The leader of NBEPar also cited the interest of several companies in the project, such as Petrobras, which can use microreactors in its refineries. “What is missing today is a legal framework,” said Zanella, a change he considers essential to ensure legal certainty for attracting private investment to the venture.

He defended the contribution of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and Ibama – Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources to review restrictions and facilitate and expedite the granting of licenses for nuclear sector ventures, especially in the mining area.

Carlos Alexandre Príncipe Pires, coordinator at the National Secretariat for Climate Change of the Ministry of the Environment, stressed that nuclear energy is an ally against climate change because it is a clean source, and advocated the expansion of knowledge to overcome prejudices and facilitate licensing.