Cooperation provisions include technical and economic SMR assessments, energy planning assistance, exchange of non-classified information and international best practices, and training programs for ANDE technical staff. The framework enables strategic capacity development for evaluating emerging technologies contributing to energy security, sustainability, and accommodation of sustained demand growth without imposing contractual commitments on the Paraguayan state.
Parallel to the signing, Asunción is hosting an April 13-17 regional meeting on small modular reactor technology and nuclear project financing at ANDE’s social and cultural headquarters. The Vice Ministry of Mines and Energy co-organizes the gathering with U.S. Department of Energy backing and support from Paraguay’s National Committee of the Regional Energy Integration Commission. Participants from Latin America and the Caribbean are examining financing challenges for advanced nuclear projects.
Néstor Bernal, Mining Director at the Vice Ministry of Mines and Energy, presented findings on Paraguay’s uranium potential during the conference’s second day, identifying sedimentary systems with roll-front type mineralization amenable to in-situ recovery leaching techniques. Energy Resources Director Fabio Lucantonio outlined the National Energy Policy 2050 roadmap emphasizing security, diversification toward low-emission sources, and deployment of prospective tools including simulation models and integrated planning methodologies developed with international organizations.
Paraguay currently relies on hydroelectric generation from Itaipú, Yacyretá, and Acaray facilities. The country ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in January 2020 and maintains comprehensive IAEA safeguards agreements with an additional protocol in force since 2004, establishing verification frameworks predating any civilian nuclear power consideration.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
