[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The submarine was named after the former Vice Admiral and scientist Álvaro Alberto da Motta e Silva, who was the responsible for the implementation of the country's nuclear program.

[3] In 1982, the scientists won its first major victory after adopting the ultracentrifugation technique for enrichment and learning about the uranium hexafluoride technology in the city of Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais.

In 2018, more than 400 Brazilian engineers worked on the nuclear submarine project staff, originally formed by the group that received training in France.

[20] In 2020, the General Directorate of Nuclear and Technological Development of the Navy, authorized the production and testing of uranium dioxide pellets for zircaloy rods, essential for pressurized water reactors.

[31] Nonetheless, experts at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have concluded that Brazil developed the technological capability to produce first generation nuclear warheads.

[32] For the Center for Security Studies of the Georgetown University in Washington D.C., "Brazil appears to be counting on its new submarine to fulfills a long-held ambition for great power status, challenging nonproliferation norms, without making tough foreign policy decisions or building a convincing military strategic case".

[37] The French President Emmanuel Macron praised the program during the launch of the submarine Tonelero, one of the conventional units of the French-Brazilian partnership, and stated that the development shows that Brazil and France, "two international and peaceful great powers who reject being lackeys in a world divided between two blocks, must recognize that in this increasingly disorganized world, we must be able to speak of firmness and strength and know how to defend the international order with credibility" and that "only with peace we can built balance, but this requires us to be militarily stronger".