The nuclear energy programs of Venezuela started during the 1950s but currently there are no active nuclear power facilities. Most of Venezuela's nuclear science activities are carried out at

Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research The Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), or ''Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas'', is a scientific research institute and graduate training center in Venezuela founded by government decree on February 9, 1959. It h ...

(IVIC). Venezuela does not mine radioactive minerals, but the government estimates that 50 tonnes of unexploited

uranium ore Uranium ore deposits are economically recoverable concentrations of uranium within the Earth's crust. Uranium is one of the more common elements in the Earth's crust, being 40 times more common than silver and 500 times more common than gold. It ...

are available in the country.

Historical facilities

During the regime of president

Marcos Pérez Jiménez Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (25 April 1914 – 20 September 2001) was a Venezuelan military and general officer of the Army of Venezuela and the dictator of Venezuela from 1950 to 1958, ruling as member of the military junta from 19 ...

, the

RV-1 nuclear reactor The RV-1 nuclear reactor, now repurposed and known as Gamma rays sterilization plant ('Pegamma'; ''Spanish'': Planta de Esterilización por Rayos Gamma), is a facility located in Altos Mirandinos, Miranda, Venezuela. It was the only nuclear react ...

at IVIC, was commissioned under the supervision of Humberto Fernández-Morán. The reactor was purchased from

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

in 1956 and could produce up to 3 MW of power. The reactor reached criticality in 1960 and was shut down in 1994.

International treaties

Venezuela became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency in August 1957, and signed the

Treaty of Tlatelolco The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is embodied in the OPANAL (french: Agence pour l'interdiction des armes nucléaires en Amérique l ...

in 1967, under which, the states parties agree to prohibit and prevent the test and creation of nuclear weapons. Venezuela also signed the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...

(NPT) in 1975 and negotiated IAEA Safeguards Agreements covering all its nuclear activities in March 1982. In 2017, Venezuela signed the

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal being their total elimination. It ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. Other deals include a memorandum of understanding with Brazil on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy of July 1979, followed by a mutual nuclear reactor research project in November 1983. In 2007, an article in newspaper ''

O Estado de S. Paulo ''O Estado de S. Paulo'' (; ), also known as ''Estadão'' (; ), is a daily newspaper published in São Paulo, Brazil. It is the third largest newspaper in Brazil, and its format changed from broadsheet to berliner on October 17, 2021. It has t ...

'' reported that uranium mining technology, developed by the Brazilian

National Nuclear Energy Commission The National Nuclear Energy Commission ( pt, Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear; CNEN) is the Brazilian government agency responsible for orientation, planning, supervision, and control of the Brazil's nuclear program. The agency was created o ...

(CNEN) was transferred to Venezuela.

Cancelled projects

In 2010,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

announced plans to build a

nuclear power station A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ele ...

, with support from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Venezuela signed two pacts with Russia, one for mutual collaboration on nuclear energy and a second on for the purchase and installation of two nuclear reactors: a research reactor to be used for medical and scientific purposes and a nuclear power plant. After the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced a halt to plans on building a nuclear power plant. The agreement with Russia included the training of students in Russia to increase specialized personnel. Many Venezuelan students followed

postgraduate studies Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

in Russia until the termination of the training program in 2017.

References

Energy in Venezuela

Nuclear power in South America by country {{Venezuela-stub