Fears in Paradise. Angra3, Brazil’s Controversial New Nuclear Reactor.
Angra dos Reis, 150 km from Rio de Janeiro, is one of Brazil’s most beautiful areas, a top tourist destination and a hideaway for the super rich and famous of Brazil. Brazil’s only nuclear power stations, Angra 1 & Angra 2 are located nearby. There has been widespread national criticism regarding the location of the nuclear power stations due to the area’s outstanding natural beauty and its haven for marine life and safety fears. The site where the power plant was built is called ‘Itaorna’ which means rotten stone in local language. BNP Paribas, which provides more finance to the nuclear industry than any other bank in the world, plans to fund the construction of another reactor, Angra 3. Construction of Angra 3 originally stopped in 1986 following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster but restarted in 2010 and expects to be finished by 2015. Now BNP Paribas plans to provide financing to continue the reactor’s construction, which will use dangerously obsolete technology and burden Brazil with an out-of-date nuclear reactor that fails to meet international safety standards.