Nuclear power and sustainable development: a vision from a developing country

From the understanding of sustainable development as 'growing assets and opening options - not foreclosing them' (IAEA, 2006a), an analysis is made on sustainability conditions for nuclear power in a developing country, based on Argentinean experience. The necessity of developing an autonomous decision-making capability and a technological-industrial infrastructure is stressed. As an example, a brief history of nuclear power in Argentina is summarized, focusing in key elements that contributed to sustainability and also pointing out some draw-backs that may have affected it. Finally, some lessons learned are presented, with the aim of sharing the experience and offering a contribution to the present debate on nuclear energy deployment in the periphery. (authors)