Bolivia's President Evo Morales on Thursday announced plans to spend two billion dollars to build a nuclear energy plant, with construction set to get underway later this year.

Morales said the facility would be located in the capital region, and would be built with assistance from Argentina and France.

The plant "is the best way to free ourselves from energy dependency," Morales said, underscoring that Bolivia's nuclear program is for "peaceful purposes."

He said construction on the plant was due to be completed in 2025.

Morales had previously indicated that his South American nation had plans to go nuclear with help from both Buenos Aires and Paris, but until now had not revealed the cost or timeline for the project.

In the past, Morales has said that energy produced by a Bolivian nuclear plant would be first and foremost for domestic consumption, but could also be exported.

He made his announcement just 10 days ahead of October 12 elections in which he is expected to be handily reelected to the presidency.

Morales, a virulent critic of the United States who became the country's first indigenous president in 2006, is seeking a third term after winning a Supreme Court ruling allowing him to stand again under a new constitution.

In October 2010, Morales made public agreements with then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, an ally, for Iranian nuclear power plant technology.