Energy Import-Dependent Chile Considering Nuclear Plants As Natural Gas Prices Rise - Reuters

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SANTIAGO - Burgeoning demand for electricity and steeper prices for natural gas imports are prompting Chile to consider nuclear power to address an energy shortfall that seems certain to intensify.

The government said last week it would set up a commission to study the possibility of following Argentina, Brazil and Mexico down the nuclear road by building power stations. Though the center-left administration has ensured a decision is years away, the move has rekindled a debate over the wisdom of "going nuclear" in a country renowned for both its natural beauty and its earthquakes. "Chile is totally lacking in (nuclear) expertize," said Rodrigo Herrera, head of environmental group Greenpeace Chile. "And it's just not true that with nuclear power we will solve the energy issue in Chile."

On one thing, everyone is agreed: Chile needs to do something to meet its pressing energy needs. Producing no natural gas and almost no oil of its own, Chile relies on gas imports from Argentina, which is facing increasing pressure to supply its domestic market and has hiked the price of exports to its Andean neighbor. Gas-rich Bolivia, to the north, refuses to sell gas to Chile because of a long-running dispute over landlocked Bolivia's demand that it be given access to the sea.

To compound the problem, Chile's economy is particularly vulnerable to energy shortages because a large part of it is based on copper mining, which is extremely energy-intensive.

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