Brazil's state-owned nuclear power corporation Eletronuclear aims to finish the long-running Angra 3 project through collaborations with either China's National Nuclear Company, France's EDF or Russia's Rosatom, its leader, Leonam Guimaraes, informed Reuters.

By the end of the year, Eletronuclear must determine whether to set up a new joint venture or whether the international investor will become a minority shareholder in the state-owned company entitling it to invest in its current Angra 1 and 2 nuclear power plants, Guimaraes said.

In an interview on Tuesday, he said the investor would need deep pockets, as completion of Angra 3 requires 15 billion reais ($3.7 billion) over the already spent 9 billion reais.

"We are searching for a foreign alliance to invest in Angra 3 completion and that investor will own part of the plant," he added. The partner must have less than 50 percent of the voting capital under Brazilian law.

In June, Eletronuclear sounded market interest with invitations to 10 foreign firms in collaboration for Angra 3, Guimaraes said. Seven replied, but CNNC, EDF, and Rosatom are the most involved, he said.

In the same month, CNNC executives toured Angra 3 and reaffirmed their involvement in the development and creation of potential plants in Brazil. Those involved were the U.S. company Westinghouse, controlled by Brookfield Business Partners Llc, and the majority-owned by EDF, France's Framatome.

Kepco Engineering and Construction from South Korea and the State Power Investment Corporation from China both showed interest in Angra 3, situated on the south coast of Rio de Janeiro, but seemed less dedicated to pursuing a relationship, he added.

The plant was built for the first time in the 1980s but was scrapped due to a lack of funding. Construction restarted in 2010, but in 2015, Eletronuclear was struck by a corruption scandal and stopped paying suppliers like the French company Areva, which built the reactor technology that is now operated by Framatome.

Angra 3 is 70 percent completed and 80 percent of nuclear reactor equipment was ordered, Guimaraes added. Eletronuclear invests 25 million reais a year on building site,  nuclear technology maintenance, and insurance, he added.

This does not include interest payments on 10 billion reais of loans to construct Angra 3 from the BNDES national development fund.

Eletronuclear is a division of the state-run electric utility Eletrobras which the government plans to privatize, even though the nuclear power plant will be spun off and stay under state control.

President Jair Bolsonaro pledged to complete Angra 3 and study new facilities in an effort to boost nuclear power's contribution to Brazil's electricity output. Guimaraes stressed that two potential sites were identified for future plants, one in Pernambuco's northeastern state and one in Minas Gerais's southeastern state.