Country Profile: Argentina (Observer)
BASIC FACTS
The Argentine Republic is located in the southern half of South America, bordered by Chile to the west, Brazil to the northeast, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, and Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
Argentina gained independence from Spain in 1861 and is today a federal constitutional
presidential republic.
Capital: Buenos Aires
Argentina’s National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) manages several nuclear research reactors. At the Ezeiza Atomic Centre, RA-10 and RA-3 are pool-type reactors used for materials testing, isotope production, transmutation, and neutron scattering; CAREM-25 is a power-propulsion reactor used for materials testing; RA-0 is a tank-style reactor at the National University of Cordoba used for activation analysis, education & training; RA-4 is operated by the National Institute of Atomic Studies and is a HOMOG reactor used for education & training; RA-6 is a pool-type, graphite reactor used for isotope production, neutron radiography, and activation analysis; CNEA also operates the RA-1 Enrico Fermi Reactor, a tank-style reactor used for education & training. RA-8 is a critical assembly formerly operated by CNEA, under temporary shutdown since 2010. Feasibility studies on this facility are ongoing.
More than 5% of Argentina’s electric grid is powered by nuclear energy. Two PHWR-type units are operational at Lima’s nuclear power plant (ATUCHA-1 and ATUCHA-2), which reached criticality in 1974 and 2014 respectively. Since 1983, a CANDU 6-type reactor has been operational at the Embalse power plant. An additional PHWR unit is currently under construction to be added to the Lima plant.
TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
- Observer of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
- Member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 1957
- Acceded to 1925 Geneva Protocol in 1969
- Signed Antarctic Treaty in 1959
- Ratified in 1961
- Signed Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention in 1997
- Ratified in 1999
- Signed Arms Trade Treaty in 2013
- Ratified in 2014
- Signed Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1972
- Ratified in 1979
- Signed Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993
- Ratified in 1995
- Signed Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996
- Ratified in 1998
- Signed Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 1981
- Ratified in 1995
- Acceded to Convention on Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) in 1987
- Signed Inter-American Convention on Firearms in 1997
- Ratified in 2001
- Signed Inter-American Convention on Transparency in 1999
- Ratified in 2004
- Signed the Convention on the Physical protection of Nuclear materials (CPPNM) in 1986
- Ratified in 1989
- Signed International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) in 2005
- Ratified in 2016
- Signed Outer Space Treaty in 1967
- Ratified in 1969
- Signed Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963
- Ratified in 1986
- Signed Sea-bed Treaty in 1971
- Ratified in 1983
- Signed Treaty of Tlatelolco in 1967
- Ratified in 1994
- Acceded to Treaty for the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1995
REGIONAL GROUPS
- Member of the G-77
- Member of the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) in the CD
- Member of the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
- Member of the Union of South American Nations
- Member of the Organization of Ibero-American States
- Member of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
- Founding member of the Organization of American States (OAS)
RECENT REPRESENTATION IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
- IAEA Board Member for 2019-2020
- IAEA Director-General since 2019
- Chair of the G-77 in 2011
- Non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2005/2006 and 2013/2014
- President-designate of the 2020 NPT Review Conference
LINKS
Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations
Argentine Nuclear Regulatory Authority
Argentina Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship
Ratification of Treaties & Memberships in International Organizations Related to Disarmament