On April 30, Dow Jones reported on remarks made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, at an energy summit with other Presidents from the region. “Argentina also has nuclear energy. No?” Chávez said. “I think they’re even exporting. I hope they export a small plant that we can put on the border,” he remarked to his Colombian counterpart, President Alvaro Uribe.

Venezuela first entertained nuclear cooperation with Argentina and Brazil in 2005, for a research reactor. Now, the CAREM modular reactor is becoming an attractive alternative for commercial power production, even to Venezuela, which holds the largest oil and natural gas reserves on the continent.