On 25 March 1973, before its completion, the plant was temporarily captured by the People's Revolutionary Army who stole a FMK-3 submachine gun and three .45 caliber handguns.

Partly as a response to the energy shortage caused by natural gas crisis of 2004, the issue of Atucha II was taken up by the Argentine government.

Eduardo Messi, president of Nucleoeléctrica Argentina S.A. (the firm in charge of the plant), told reporters that 93% of the components were either in storage or already installed.

Atucha II was "pre-started" on 28 September 2011 by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and it was scheduled to start commercial service by mid-2013.

The Hualong One is also not capable of online refueling but it is a much more powerful design than the other two blocks at Atucha and will have a higher nameplate capacity than the other two reactors combined.