A wave of construction workers layoffs have cemented the halt of CAREM-25, the first nuclear power reactor designed entirely in Argentina. On Monday, 153 people were laid off, taking the total number of firings to 470 since the beginning of the year. 

The layoffs were carried out by the three private construction contractors in charge of the project due to lack of sufficient funding from the government.

According to construction union representatives, CAREM’s construction is 85% complete. It is one of five small modular reactors (SMR) in an advanced building stage in the world, and the first of its kind to begin construction in 2014. It is set to go online in 2028, whereas similar projects around the world are scheduled to be finished in 2030.

This launch could be delayed. In addition to the layoffs, the National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA, by its Spanish acronym) recently announced in a release that it had decided to put the building stage on hold and focus on an “engineering revision stage.” 

CNEA president Germán Guido Lavalle said that construction is “essentially finished” and remaining details “will be completed over the next few years.” The release added that the project will need new funds in the future and that CNEA will continue to work alongside the government with a focus on engineering instead of construction.

“Works for the modular nuclear reactor CAREM are in place and have not stopped,” a CNEA communiqué released on Tuesday stated. “The project is in an advanced building stage and contracts related to those tasks are coming to an end,” they added, referring to the layoffs.

Like many state dependencies, the CNEA was not assigned a budget for this year and is using an extension of the 2023 one. In March, the government renewed all state employee contracts for only three months, putting part of the CNEA personnel at risk, including scientists and engineers. At that time, CNEA managers called the situation “critical” in an internal document, warning that the budget could last only until May or June, depending on the area. 

“We were expecting this. We knew the budget for this year would not be enough to continue with the project,” said Adriana Serquis, former head of the CNEA who left her post in May due to ideological differences with the Milei administration. She is now the director of CNEA’s Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute.

“The lack of funding led to part of the construction stage to be halted, and it all comes down to a budget issue,” Serquis said. “Even if [CNEA] says the project will continue, it will be very slow. During that time, they won’t be able to guarantee that qualified staff stay and reach the goal of being one of the first countries to have this kind of reactor.” 

The decision to lay off experienced workers is also detrimental to the development of Argentina’s nuclear industry as a whole. According to Julio González, a construction union leader in Zárate, where the reactor is being built, there are only 160 builders still in their position. Only 30 will remain by November. 

“They have acquired knowledge in building nuclear reactors,” González told the Herald. “Halting the project means older workers who are close to retirement age will not be able to transfer their knowledge to newer generations.”

For González, the stand-by announced by the government is a sign of worse things to come. “They won’t say it explicitly, but the CNEA’s decision is to halt the project and not provide any funds for it to continue.”

Argentina’s nuclear industry is one of the most advanced in the region. The country has three nuclear power plants. Embalse in Córdoba province, operational since 1983, and the Atucha Nuclear Complex, which encompasses Atucha and Atucha II, two adjacent nuclear power plants near the town of Lima in Buenos Aires province. The three of them combined produce 10% of the country’s electrical energy.

According to a CAREM employee working in the engineering department who asked to remain anonymous, several engineers and other highly technically qualified workers are leaving the project and even Argentina due to the uncertainty and lack of funding for science and technology projects. 

For Serquis, the situation regarding the loss of professionals is serious. “We are now scared that engineering teams will fall apart. It’s very hard to put them back together,” she warned.

“It’s a mixture of sadness, anger, and helplessness.”