Angra Nuclear Power Plant

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Angra Nuclear Power Plant is Brazil's first nuclear power plant, located at Angra dos Reis in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It consists of two Pressurized water reactors, Angra 1, with a net output of 626 MWe, first connected to the power grid in 1982 and Angra 2, with a net output of 1275 MWe, connected in 2000. A third reactor, Angra 3, with a projected output of 1229 MWe, is under construction.

The Angra 1 and Angra 2 nuclear reactors were built by the military with the desire to produce radioactive material for nuclear weapons. The construction of Angra 1 cost US$6 billion and was very controversial. Greenpeace made its first appearance in Brazil in protest against the construction of Angra 1.

The Brazilian Nuclear Project was not successful for two reasons. It did not make nuclear weapons possible and the energy produced by the two reactors combined accounts for no more than 4% of the energy produced in Brazil. Both Angra 1 and Angra 2 are popularly called "vacant-fires", because of their constant shutdowns due to technical failures.