Three attempts to initiate a nuclear power program

Since the early sixties Mexico has been interested in nuclear power. Several studies have been carried out, and the different energy policy documents published have dealt with nuclear power as the best alternative to diversify primary energy inputs. The paper discusses three different approaches to incorporate nuclear power in the Mexican energy scene: incorporate, negotiate and define. The first one, which lead to the Languna Verde nuclear power project, expected to start commercial operation in 1987, was for the national electric utility to build a nuclear power plant with assistance from an architect engineer, more or less as conventional power plants were built. The second approach was to invite foreign suppliers and negotiate a program, and the third approach was to define a program