Meitner Energy Bets $1.2B on Argentina's First Commercial ACR-300 SMR
US-backed Meitner Energy will invest $1.2 billion to build a 300 MWe ACR-300 small modular reactor at Argentina's Atucha nuclear complex, the largest privately financed nuclear project in the country's history.
Key Takeaways
Meitner Energy will invest $1.2 billion to build a 300 MWe ACR-300 SMR at Argentina's Atucha nuclear complex, the largest privately financed nuclear project in the country's history.
The ACR-300 is a Generation III+ pressurized light-water SMR designed by Argentina's state-owned INVAP; Meitner is 60% owned by the US-based Ansari Group and 40% by INVAP-controlled Black River Technology.
The project is expected to create about 2,000 direct jobs and may qualify for Argentina's proposed Super RIGI incentives regime for very large investments.
Construction should take five years once Argentina's Nuclear Regulatory Authority licenses the design.
The private project effectively displaces Argentina's stalled CAREM SMR programme, with part of Meitner's technical team drawn from former CNEA engineers.
Kaan Tınmaz
Argentina is about to host the first commercial deployment of a Generation III+ small modular reactor financed entirely with private capital. Buenos Aires-based government officials confirmed on July 7 that Meitner Energy, a US-based clean energy company, will invest $1.2 billion to build a 300 MWe ACR-300 SMR at the Atucha nuclear complex about 100 km northwest of Buenos Aires.
An Argentine reactor with US money
The ACR-300 is a pressurized light-water Generation III+ SMR originally designed and patented in the United States by Argentina's state-owned INVAP. Meitner Energy is 60% owned by the Ansari Group, a US-based investor known for backing SpaceX in its early days, and 40% by Black River Technology, which is controlled by INVAP itself. Meitner says its reactor claims the lowest physical construction burden per megawatt among grid-scale SMRs.
Super RIGI and the biggest nuclear check ever
Economy Minister Luis Caputo said the project would create roughly 2,000 direct jobs across construction and operation, and could qualify for benefits under the government's proposed Super RIGI incentives regime for very large investments. Argentina's Secretary of Nuclear Affairs Federico Ramos Napoli called Meitner's decision a validation of the country's "more than 70 years of nuclear experience."
Displacing CAREM, not just complementing it
The move complicates the future of Argentina's decades-old CAREM SMR programme, which INVAP itself pioneered in the 1980s and which has been stalled at the Atucha site since 2014. Researchers at the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) told local media that CAREM has effectively been displaced by the new private initiative, and part of Meitner's technical team is drawn from former CNEA engineers. Construction is expected to take five years once the Nuclear Regulatory Authority licenses the design.
What is the ACR-300 reactor Meitner Energy plans to build in Argentina?
The ACR-300 is a 300 MWe pressurized light-water Generation III+ small modular reactor designed and patented in the US by Argentina's state-owned INVAP. Meitner claims it has the lowest physical construction burden per megawatt among grid-scale SMRs.
Who owns Meitner Energy?
Meitner Energy is 60% owned by the Ansari Group, a US-based investor known for early backing of SpaceX, and 40% by Black River Technology, which is controlled by INVAP.
Where will the reactor be built and when will construction start?
It will be built at the Atucha nuclear complex about 100 km northwest of Buenos Aires. Construction is expected to take five years once Argentina's Nuclear Regulatory Authority licenses the design.
How does this project affect Argentina's CAREM SMR programme?
CNEA researchers say CAREM, stalled at the Atucha site since 2014, has effectively been displaced by the new private initiative, and part of Meitner's technical team comes from former CNEA engineers.
