Brazil is planning to expand its nuclear energy generating capacity, in the wake of an acute energy crisis (see Down To Earth , Vol 10, No 4, July 15, 2001, p13). Government officials say that a us $2.4 billion new reactor will be built at Angra dos Reis nuclear complex. Surrounded by a lush tropical forest, the complex is constantly criticised by environmentalists, who allege that its existing reactors pose a grave threat and there is no space to store nuclear waste. "The electricity crisis will pass, but a nuclear reactor is a problem that Brazil will have forever,' said Delcio Rodriguez of Greenpeace, an international pressure group.