The Government completely rejects extending the life of nuclear plants in its new green ‘megaplan’

by time news

The large electric companies agreed in 2019 with Enresa, the public company in charge of radioactive waste, a calendar for the progressive closure of all nuclear power plants that will lead to the total atomic blackout in the country. The agreement with Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy and EDP It contemplates a staggered closure of the plants that would start in 2027 and culminate with the last closure in 2035.

In recent months, PP, Vox and Ciudadanos have been putting pressure to review the closure schedule to extend the deadlines in the midst of the energy crisis. And more recently, the energy sector itself has also begun to join in, both the large companies timidly – barely offering to discuss a review if the Government deems it necessary – and the professional associations of the nuclear industry.

The Government shakes off the pressures and is firm in defending keeping the agreed closing dates unchanged. And the Ministry for the Ecological Transition confirms that in the next revision of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), the roadmap of which technologies will produce electricity until 2030, there is no possibility that it includes a change in the decommissioning schedule towards a nuclear blackout.

“The Government is not considering a change in the calendar or an increase in the life of nuclear power plants. The Government will continue with the agreement between the owner companies and Enresa, and this will be seen in the next update of the PNIEC”, he has ruled Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen, in the Congress of Deputies to questions from the Popular Party, which has defended the extension of the useful life of Spanish reactors. The Executive must send the European Commission an update of the Plan with more demanding objectives to have the new version approved throughout this year.

“There is no interest from the electric companies”

From the Government it is emphasized that no company has transmitted its willingness to change the deadlines and that delaying the closure is not a solution to attend to the emergencies caused by the previous crisis. “There is no interest from the companies to extend the useful life of the plants (…) The companies are not willing to increase their investment in nuclear, but rather allocate their investments to renewable energies”, indicated the Secretary of State.

From the nuclear sector it has been pointing out that there are no technical impossibilities for the plants to work beyond the scheduled dates, but warning that they will only do so if their economic viability is guaranteed. That is, electric companies are not opposed to continuing to operate their reactors if profitability is guaranteed with some kind of stable remuneration or fixed income, and also with less taxes than those currently assumed.

EFE


Decision, in 2024

The nuclear sector also warns that the deadlines for deciding whether to review the closure calendar of the plants are not unlimited and if the first closures are to be delayed, the decision cannot be delayed. And it is that to postpone the first closures, particularly that of Almaraz I in 2027, a decision must be made this year or next at the latest. The nuclear companies thus place duties on the current Executive (which must review this year the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan, with the forecast of production technologies that will be used until 2030) or the next Government that comes out of the elections scheduled for the end of the year .n

From the Nuclear Forum, from the employers’ association, from the companies that own the plants and also from the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), the regulator that oversees the safety of the plants in the country, it is emphasized that the previous process of investment planning and necessary resources and the study and preparation procedure for the extension of the operating permit of each nuclear power plant requires a period of about three years. So avoiding the first reactor shutdown scheduled for 2027 requires a decision to be made no later than next year.

The CSN, Enresa and the electricity companies themselves work with the closure calendar agreed with the Government as the roadmap for operation and planning deadlines. The gradual and staggered closure of the seven Spanish reactors agreed in 2019 with the large electric companies contemplates that Almaraz I will close in 2027, Almaraz II in 2028, Ascó I in 2030, Cofrentes in 2030, Ascó II in 2032, Vandellós II in 2035 and Trillo also in 2035.

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