engineering

Othon Pinheiro da Silva

Othon Pinheiro da Silva is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Othon Pinheiro da Silva rather than just read about it. In short: Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva (born 25 February 1939) is a Brazilian physicist, mechanical and nuclear engineer, vice admiral of the Brazilian Navy Naval Engineers and Technicians Corps. He had also served as president of state-owned company Eletronuclear.

Key takeaways

Othon Pinheiro da Silva belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Othon Pinheiro da Silva to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Othon Pinheiro da Silva from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva (born 25 February 1939) is a Brazilian physicist, mechanical and nuclear engineer, vice admiral of the Brazilian Navy Naval Engineers and Technicians Corps. He had also served as president of state-owned company Eletronuclear. Othon's biography is deeply related to the Brazilian nuclear program. He is known and received many homages for being one of the main responsibles for the development of a technology for uranium enrichment called ultracentrifugation. This allowed the country to be independent for dominating all of the nuclear power commodity chain, ensuring the construction of the nuclear propulsion submarine SN Álvaro Alberto (SN-10) and the supply of the country's power plants. The vice admiral was arrested for the first time in Operation Radioactivity, 16th Phase of Operation Car Wash, triggered by the accusation of Dalton Avanci, former executive of contractor Camargo Corrêa. Later, he was arrested again in Operation Pripyat, an offshoot of the previous one, which investigated accusations of corruption in Eletronuclear. Othon was convicted by judge Marcelo Bretas to 43 years in prison and was kept in the Brazilian Marine Corps headquarters of Meriti River in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro. Silva was later released due a habeas corpus granted in October 2017 by the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region (TRF-2). In 2022, TRF-2 reviewed his conviction and replaced the prison sentence with restrictions on rights.

Life and career Othon graduated in 1960 at the Naval School and in Naval Engineering at the São Paulo Polytechnic School in 1966, with a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, concomitantly with a bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering. Returning to Brazil, he was tasked to begin the first studies for a Brazilian nuclear submarine and led the Brazilian Navy Nuclear Program from 1979 to 1994. Secretly conducted by the Navy, the project resulted in the development of a national technology for uranium enrichment using ultracentrifugation, which currently produces part of the fuel for Angra Nuclear Power Plant. Othon was director of reactors researches of the Institute for Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN) from 1982 to 1984. At this time, he was actively monitored by the CIA, which kept an agent, Ray H. Allar, living in an apartment next to the admiral's in São Paulo. Along with Marcos Honauser, Othon controlled secret bank accounts, from which funds were applied in parallel nuclear programs. Found by journalist Tânia Malheiros, who published the book "Brasil, a Bomba Oculta" (Brazil, the Hidden Bomb), the case was target of investigation, archived in 1988 by Prosecutor-General Sepúlveda Pertence. In 1994, he retired from the military as vice admiral and opened a consulting company for projects in energy.

Civilian and military awards – National Order of Scientific Merit (Grand Cross) – Order of Naval Merit (Commander) – Order of Military Merit (Commander) – Order of Aeronautical Merit (Commander) – Tamandaré Merit Medal – Peacemaker Medal – Santos Dumont Merit Medal – Golden Military Medal

Prison and conviction

In 2005, during the first term of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Othon assumed the presidency of Eletronuclear, invited by Minister of Mines and Energy Silas Rondeau. During his administration, the construction of Angra 3 reactor, suspended for 23 years, was resumed. In April 2015, Othon was suspended from office after accusations of bribe payments to company directors. He was arrested on 28 July, during investigations of Operation Car Wash, which revealed evidences of payments of R$4.5 million (US$1.35 million) in bribes made by contractors consortiums. Imprisoned in Rio de Janeiro after Operation Radioactivity, he was taken to the Federal Police Superintendence in Curitiba. On 6 July 2016, Othon was arrested again by the Federal Police in an offshoot of Operation Car Wash, named Pripyat, which investigates corruption in Eletrobras. In August, judge Marcelo Bretas convicted vice admiral Othon to 43 years of prison for the crimes of corruption, money laundering, obstruction of justice, tax evasion and criminal organization during the construction of Angra 3 nuclear power plant. In October 2017, Othon was released after a habeas corpus was granted by the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region. In 2022, the same court reduced his sentence from 43 years to 4 years, 10 months and 10 days in prison and replaced the prison sentence with two sentences of restrictions on rights.

See also Álvaro Alberto da Motta e Silva Eletronuclear Nuclear activities in Brazil Nuclebrás Equipamentos Pesados Resende Nuclear Fuel Factory

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Othon Pinheiro da Silva

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Othon Pinheiro da Silva claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Othon Pinheiro da Silva before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Othon Pinheiro da Silva ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Othon Pinheiro da Silva

In research: Othon Pinheiro da Silva appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Othon Pinheiro da Silva in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Othon Pinheiro da Silva is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1939 births, 20th-century Brazilian engineers, 21st-century Brazilian engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Othon Pinheiro da Silva outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Othon Pinheiro da Silva in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Othon Pinheiro da Silva means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Othon Pinheiro da Silva in simple terms?

Why does Othon Pinheiro da Silva matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Othon Pinheiro da Silva?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Othon Pinheiro da Silva.