Country profile: Mexico
Summary figures for 2011
The following information is from the NEA publication Nuclear Energy Data, the annual compilation of official statistics and country reports on nuclear energy in OECD member countries.
| Country | Number of nuclear power plants connected to the grid |
Nuclear electricity generation (net TWh) 2011 |
Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply |
|||
| Mexico | 2 |
9.7 |
4.2 |
|||
| OECD America | 123 |
885.7 |
18.4 |
|||
| OECD Total | 329 |
2049.5 |
20.7 |
|||
Country report
The Laguna Verde nuclear power plant, the only nuclear power plant in Mexico, has two boiling water reactors, with a reference unit power of 650 MWe each. Laguna Verde is currently supplying 3% to 4% of the total electricity generation in Mexico. Unit-I of Laguna Verde became operational in 1990 and unit II in 1995. Laguna Verde is owned and operated by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) which has recently completed a power up-rate that brings the reactors to 810 MWe (gross) each. However, the regulatory body, the National Commission for Nuclear Safety and Safeguards (CNSNS), has not yet authorised CFE to operate at 100% of the new rated power.
The Laguna Verde NPP continued qualification tests in both unit I and unit II in order to obtain from the regulatory body the required licences to allow both units to operate at the new rated net power of 786 MWe per unit. It is expected that the licences will be issued during 2012.
The reactors at Laguna Verde operate on 18-month cycles which are scheduled in such a way as to avoid shutting down both reactors at the same time. In this scheme, in a given calendar year there is one fuel reload and the following year there are two reloads. Such will be the case in 2012. Annual uranium requirements were 154 tU in 2009 (a year with one reload) and 403 tU in 2010 (a year with two reloads). In 2011, the Laguna Verde NPP signed contracts covering all the plant's requirements of fuel assemblies and associated services for the period from 2013 to 2015.
The CFE, in co-operation with the National Institute for Nuclear Research (ININ), is working to extend the operational life of both reactors to approximately 60 years. This work has not yet been completed and, of course, the regulatory body has not yet extended the operational licences of these reactors.
The Ministry of Energy and the CFE are currently studying the possibility of commissioning additional nuclear power plants in Mexico.
Source: Nuclear Energy Data 2012
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Last reviewed: 7 October 2011
