Argentina's small gaseous diffusion enrichment plant at Pilcaniyeu, built by INVAP for the national atomic energy commission CNEA with a capacity of about 20,000 SWU a year. Formally reactivated in 2010 and reopened in December 2015, it halted production again in 2018 and has never supplied commercial or export needs; Argentina imports enrichment services.
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Current state
| Status | Shut down |
| Country | Argentina |
| Location | Pilcaniyeu, Río Negro (near San Carlos de Bariloche) |
| Operator | Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA) |
| Ownership | State-owned (CNEA); built and operated in the 1980s by INVAP. |
| Facility type | Enrichment plant |
| Technology | Gaseous diffusion |
| Products | LEU |
| Capacity (tSWU/yr) | 20 |
Notes
capacity reflects nameplate (~20 tSWU/yr) although production is halted. A 2026 CNEA statement reportedly lists 'starting enrichment' among its goals (search snippet only, unverified). Dioxitek signed an MoU with NANO Nuclear Energy in Aug 2025 to assess adding an enrichment line in Argentina (WNA) - not tracked as a separate record.
Timeline
- 1983 — INVAP began operating a small diffusion enrichment plant for CNEA at Pilcaniyeu (operated 1983-89). (source)
- 2010 — Argentina formally reactivated the Pilcaniyeu enrichment plant. (source)
- 2015-12 — CNEA re-opened the plant. (source)
- 2018 — Production at Pilcaniyeu was halted again. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
NNN coverage
About National Atomic Energy Commission (Argentina)
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Sources
- Nuclear Power in Argentina (country profile) — World Nuclear Association, checked 2026-10-11
- Uranium Enrichment Facilities (updated 2 May 2026) — WISE Uranium Project, checked 2026-10-11
- Uranium Enrichment (updated 29 Sep 2026) — World Nuclear Association, checked 2026-10-11