As part of
the cuts to the trusts
made by the Government of
Javier Milei
, the pruning included the works on two nuclear reactors that had real export possibilities and also the work on the proton therapy center to treat childhood cancer, which is being developed in 95% and now they don't know if it can be completed.
This was stated by the president of the National Atomic Energy Commission (Cnea),
Adriana Serquis
, who was consulted about the status of
the works on the CAREM-25 and RA-10 nuclear reactors,
given rumors of paralysis due to Milei's chainsaw.
"For now they have only slowed them down, because we have not yet had the opportunity to know what the budget that will be granted this year will be in order to continue with the schedule with which we have been working and which had accelerated quite a bit in recent years. two damages," highlighted the scientist, in office since 2021.
"An expectation had been generated of being able to be re-competitive at an international level, since in both projects there are very good business plans in terms of the possibilities of exporting materials with high knowledge," said Serquis in dialogue with the program " Everything in off" from radio
Splendid
.
Adriana Serquis, the president of the CNEA, with Rafael Grossi, from the International Atomic Energy Commission. Twitter
The researcher explained what the critical points of the projects are in light of the announced cut in public spending. And she pointed out that the uncertainty about the CAREM-25 and RA-10 reactors is due to the
pruning of trusts
that Milei is doing.
The
CAREM-25
is a small modular reactor that is located in the Buenos Aires town of Lima, within the Atucha facilities. "What happened this week was that since it is on the list of the trusts, which told us it was not going to be included, we are not able to execute a single cent of that project," he explained about that reactor.
"Because of this issue of the trusts, NA.SA, which is the Argentine Nucleoeléctrica company contracted for the construction of the civil works, was asked that payments could not be made. Therefore, NA.SA decided that one of the subcontractors did not continue with that small part of the work and that meant laying off 69 workers. A conciliation has been requested from UOCRA," Serquis noted.
"And the
RA-10
is a multipurpose reactor that is being built in Ezeiza. It was expected next year to be able to begin commissioning tests. This reactor is going to expand our radioisotope capacity tenfold, essential for the entire area of
nuclear medicine, disease diagnoses
and we were going to have export capacity again," highlighted the graduate in Physics from the University of Buenos Aires and PhD in Physics, graduated from the Balseiro Institute.
"The budget depends on the Energy Secretariat of the National Government. It is a reactor that is an emblem in the world. The world is waiting to see if these types of reactors work for what energy transmission is, considering nuclear energy as clean energy and with one of the greatest potentials in accompanying the change towards having less carbon dioxide emissions and other applications. It is at a moment in which it could begin to be deployed commercially to begin making agreements to have a very large value chain for be able to be exported," highlighted the main CONICET researcher.
Advances in the RA-10 reactor. Photo Twitter CNEA_Arg
"And we'll see, it was decided to suspend until next week the decision on whether one of INVAP's subcontractors, which is the company contracted to complete the installation of the reactor components, continues. Its stoppage, its slowdown, implies greater costs. And professionals are beginning to see that their poor salaries at the CNEA make them see that the world is needing nuclear energy. 'I go somewhere else and they pay me ten times more,'" he revealed about the scientific environment, alluding to what which is known as "brain drain".
But he did not only refer to nuclear reactors. The concern in the CNEA reaches the proton therapy center, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Agronomía.
"The proton therapy center is in Buenos Aires with 95% built, the company that has to finish installing the equipment needs to come. It will be unique in Latin America, for the treatment particularly of childhood cancer. Given the lack to comply last week with the credit that had been granted to us, which had to be converted into effective payments, now we have to think about how to pay for electricity and we are in debt for services," said Serquis.
Those of us who are part of the @CNEA_Arg continue to think that it is possible to develop large projects such as CAREM, RA10, the Protontherapy center and the launch of the PIAP. That is why we regret that the budget cut threatens the progress of these works. https://t.co/0POmp4JcSI
— Adriana Serquis (@aserquis) March 28, 2024
In turn, regarding the Government's plan, he warned: "There is no understood nuclear plan and we do not know where they are going. I had several conversations, there is a lot of interest in these things continuing but there are no clear signs that this will be the case. , that we are going to have all the investment that is needed for things to continue.
"We were even thinking about a plan to
offer them to go slowly without braking
. There is a lack of knowledge of what they want to do. It was always state policy and we hoped it would continue to be that way," said the scientist, who clarified to the Secretary of Energy, Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo, who does not want to continue in office and
who will not sign any dismissal in his area of the State.
How does proton therapy work?
Argentine Center for Proton Therapy in Agronomy
Radiation therapy is a treatment that kills cancer cells or slows their growth by damaging their DNA with high doses of radiation. Proton therapy is a specific type of radiotherapy. In conventional, with photons, the energy of ionizing radiation is not slowed down and affects the cells of the tissue it passes through.
With proton radiotherapy, which are positively charged subatomic particles, the energy curve is inverted. At first it is smaller and less is deposited in healthy structures. Afterwards, the delivered dose increases and what is known as the
Bragg peak
occurs , after which the protons stop completely. As the depth where this peak is reached can be regulated,
a higher and much more localized energy deposit
is applied to the tumor to be treated.
Argentine Proton Therapy Center
"It can be said that protons are projectiles of greater caliber and also greater precision: the proton has almost 2,000 times more mass than the electron and breaks molecular structures, such as DNA. The proton beams are produced in a cyclotron, which is a particle accelerator. This device can produce a proton beam of 230 mega-electron volts (MeV) that penetrates 32 centimeters in water. But it can also be regulated, for example, so that the beam has an energy of 70 MeV and is exactly four centimeters in,"
physicist Gustavo Santa Cruz
assured
Clarín .
In this way, it is possible to send different beams to irradiate the tumor at different points, so that it receives the dose prescribed by the doctor with millimeter precision. Due to these characteristics, proton radiotherapy has less toxicity and fewer adverse effects, thus improving the patient's quality of life.