Amanda Maxwell, Latin America Advocate, Washington, DC

Latin America Green News is a selection of weekly news highlights about environmental and energy issues in Latin America. 

October 21 – 26, 2012

Chile

Chile’s Energy Undersecretary, Sergio del Campo, announced that the government will begin studying the potential for building nuclear power plants again. The government had been analyzing this option but stopped after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. Del Campo underscored that the administration does not intend to start a full nuclear program, but rather wants to generate information in case future administrations want to pursue nuclear energy options. (Santiago Times 10/24/2012)

New problems at a major CMPC cellulose plant in central Chile led to another episode of air contamination on Tuesday. That morning, citizens noticed a horrible stench that caused headaches, nausea and vomiting, which the company says was caused by a mechanical failure in the ventilation system. CMPC, a company belonging to the Matte group, has had similar problems in the past, for example in Nacimiento where citizens continued to suffer from ongoing pollution even though the plant there had been fined for contamination and bad odors. (Radio Universidad de Chile 10/25/2012)

Government and industry representatives announced ...

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