Brazil nuclear leader's arrest may stymie its atomic ambitions

[bananas]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/30/us-brazil-corruption-nuclear-idUSKCN0Q425O20150730

Thu Jul 30, 2015 12:30pm EDT
Brazil nuclear leader's arrest may stymie its atomic ambitions
RIO DE JANEIRO | By Jeb Blount

The arrest of the longtime head of Brazil's nuclear energy utility on corruption charges could disrupt a plan to revive Brazilian nuclear ambitions whose roots go back to its atomic-bomb program in the 1980s.

Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva, a retired admiral, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly taking 4.5 million reais ($1.35 million) in bribes from engineering firms working on the long-delayed Angra 3 nuclear power plant.

While its constitution commits Brazil to the peaceful use of atomic power, Pinheiro, 76, has for three decades been a central player in plans to finish Angra 3, build eight additional reactors and even a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

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"The industry was already in crisis, but now the corruption concerns are bound to delay Angra 3 further and cause costs to rise even more."

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[bananas]

1. Brazil Arrests Nuclear Chief in Widening of Graft Case

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/world/americas/brazil-arrests-nuclear-chief-in-widening-of-graft-case.html?_r=0

Brazil Arrests Nuclear Chief in Widening of Graft Case
By SIMON ROMEROJULY 28, 2015

RIO DE JANEIRO — The sweeping corruption scandal shaking Brazil’s establishment intensified on Tuesday after the police arrested the mastermind of the military’s secret nuclear program during the 1970s and ’80s.

With the arrest of that figure, Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva, a retired navy admiral, what started as a bribery inquiry at the national oil company, Petrobras, seems to have taken on a life of its own, with one prominent figure after another becoming ensnared in accusations of a broad web of graft involving state-controlled enterprises and some of the country’s most powerful private companies.

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During the military dictatorship, which lasted from 1964 to 1985, Mr. Pinheiro da Silva, a nuclear engineer educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, oversaw a clandestine operation to build reactors for submarines.

“Corruption in Brazil is endemic and is in the process of metastasis,” Athayde Ribeiro Costa, a public prosecutor, told reporters.

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[Blue_Tires]

2. kick

[kristopher]

3. A bit of an over-reaction, isn't it?

I mean, how much harm could a few cut-rate parts or labor short-cuts cause?

YIIFS