Abstract

HURTADO DE MENDOZA, Diego. Periferia y fronteras tecnológicas: Energía nuclear y dictadura militar en la Argentina (1976-1983). Rev. iberoam. cienc. tecnol. soc. [online]. 2009, vol.5, n.13, pp.27-64. ISSN 1850-0013.

In March 1976 a military coup d'etát took place in Argentina. From the outset, Argentina's nuclear development gained momentum. The fragile economy inherited from the overthrown democracy did not prevent the military regime from significantly increasing the nuclear budget. The new president of the Argentine Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), Captain (later Rear Admiral) Carlos Castro Madero, announced the government would invest US$ 5,500m in the nuclear development during the following ten years. This article focuses on CNEA's trajectory toward the completion of the nuclear fuel cycle during the military dictatorship period (1976-1983) by analyzing, on one side, the presence of a deep-rooted "nuclear culture" that emphasized a peaceful and industrialist orientation under adverse conditions of state terrorism and macroeconomic landscape which favored de-industrialization and, on the other side, the strong connection between the pressures from nuclear exporters and the decision-making process involved in the main Argentine nuclear achievements. Finally, this historical analysis also attempts to shed light over the weakness of the analytical frames usually used in interpreting the peripheral countries' nuclear goals.

Keywords : Nuclear development; Periphery; Argentina; Military dictatorship.

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