New Build

The Spanish government’s attitude to nuclear seems to be softening as it strives to achieve European emission cuts in the middle of an economic crisis. But do not expect the stay of execution to lead to a renaissance for the industry.

By Jason Deign in Barcelona

Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca, Vice-President of the European Parliament, couldn’t resist a dig at the Spanish government as he spoke on energy earlier this year. “Why are they closing Garoña?” he asked. “It’s a lovely little plant. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

The comments, made during a think-tank presentation at Barcelona’s Hotel Palace, seemed to sum up the traditional position on nuclear in Spain: the right-wing opposition Partido Popular (of which Vidal-Quadras is a member) is for it and the governing socialist government against.

That position may be changing, though.

When the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español or PSOE) came to power, says Barcelona-based Emerging Energy Research analyst Vincent Gautier: “They said they would close all the power plants when they got to the end of their lifespan.

“And they are not doing it as soon as they wanted.”

In fact, the only plant closure announced by the government so far is the Santa María de Garoña, Burgos, facility that Vidal-Quadras referred to, and which will be decommissioned in 2013.

Radioactive waste

The PSOE’s position on this is that it is a small (460 MWe) first-generation reactor which has reached the end of its intended lifespan and produces 50% more radioactive waste than the rest of Spain’s reactors.

Aside from this, another first-generation plant, José Cabrera in Zorita, Guadalajara, is currently being decommissioned, with Westinghouse Electric Company having recently been awarded the 31-month task of dismantling the reactor vessel internals with subcontractor MONLAIN.

However, says Emilio Jarillo Ibañez, spokesperson for the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, “in this case the decision to cease exploiting the plant was taken by a Partido Popular government in 2002.”

Elsewhere, Ibañez is at pains to dismiss the government’s anti-nuclear image. “At this point in time Spain cannot do without nuclear energy because it represents a significant percentage of the provision of the electrical supply.

“It is also important to note that in Spain there is no prohibition on the construction of new plants. All that has happened is that there have not been any applications to build new plants by any of the electric companies.”

This conciliatory tone may be driven by pragmatic considerations. Spain has made significant strides in the development of renewable energy, but only at great cost.

Refurbishing plants

Its subsidies and feed-in tariffs for wind and solar energy have been among the most generous in the world, leading to a boom in these industries.

But with the Spanish economy now attracting comparisons to European Union basket cases such as Greece and Portugal, it is becoming tougher to continue propping up these nascent energy sources. So keeping nuclear going for a bit longer seems like a smart move.

“What we are doing in Spain is refurbishing some plants and providing authorisation for others to extend their operating lifespan,” says Ibañez.

“For example, since 1990 the electrical capacity of Spanish nuclear plants has increased by 596 MWe, which is 8.7% over the original level.”

Ibañez also points out that Spain’s eight reactors make it the fifth-largest market in Europe for the sector, ahead of much-vaunted nuclear wannabes such as Finland or Italy. But does all this add up to a possible renaissance of nuclear energy in Spain? The answer is ‘probably not’.

While the current government, under Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, is not about to shut the industry down, it is not planning to cuddle up to nuclear concerns either. “Spain is betting on energy savings, energy efficiency and renewable energy,” says Ibañez.

Similar contribution

“So there is no plan for increasing the amount of nuclear energy in the mix. Parliament is currently discussing what the ideal spread of sources should be in 2020, but the political parties have yet to come to a conclusion.

“However, the Government’s prior forecasts indicate that in 2020 there will be an installed capacity similar to that today, so the contribution of nuclear plants will be similar—in 2009 it was 17.61% of electricity production—or slightly less because of a strong rise in renewables.”

Even if the Partido Popular wrests back power in the meantime, it is unlikely the situation will change much.

While the Garoña plant closure remains a bone of contention between the two parties, press reports indicate that even within the opposition there are differing views over its future.

And a full-on backing of nuclear power by a newly-minted right wing administration might still take a long time to produce results. “The Partido Popular would be more favourable to extending the lifespan of the plants,” concedes Gautier.

“And it is true that once you have decided where you want to put it and have got all the political issues out of the way, you can build a plant in 36 months. But getting the political issues out of the way is a very long process.”

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Jason Deign: mail@jasondeign.com

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Katherine Steiner-Dicks: steinercommunications@yahoo.co.uk