2023-07-17 10:32:34
The Government has authorized the start of the dismantling of the nuclear power plant of Santa María de Garoña (Burgos), a process that will last until 2033 and that has a budget of 475 million euros.
The Ministry of Ecological Transition has published the ministerial order initiating the procedure and also authorizing the change of ownership of the facility from Nuclenor (owner company formed by Iberdrola and Endesa) to Enresa, responsible for the dismantling, which will take place in the following days.
The disassembly project consists of two phases, which cover until 2033 and with this budget of 475 million euros, and it is expected that up to 350 people will work on it simultaneously. The Ministry, through the Institute for Just Transition (ITJ), has been collaborating since 2020 with the 27 municipalities affected by the closure of the facility and has already allocated 7.7 million to finance 12 municipal projects.
Garoña, which has been without activity for a decade, had an installed capacity of 466 MW, was inaugurated in 1971 and was disconnected from the electricity grid in December 2012, when Nuclenor informed the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism of its decision not to continue exploiting it
In July 2013, the definitive cessation of exploitation was declared, but this was not due to nuclear safety or radiological protection reasons, so Nuclenor submitted a request for renewal of the authorization in May 2014. Finally, in August 2017, this request was denied by the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda.
The dismantling process coincides with the debate on the future of the nuclear package in Spain. The calendar agreed between the companies that own the seven reactors in force (Almaraz, Ascó, Vandellós, Cofrentes and Trillo) begins the progressive closure of all of them from 2027 to 2035. Although it is not yet clear if the Executive that results from these general elections will authorize the closure or will extend its activity for a few years, under new economic conditions, as requested by the electric companies.
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