Upon the proposal of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Ecological Transformation and Demographic Problems, VII. Approved the General Plan (PGRR). It flatly rejects the construction of the Central Temporary Storage (ATC), sets a timetable for the closure of nuclear power plants between 2027 and 2035 and envisages paying a cost of $20.2 billion to the owners of atomic facilities.
Management also approved the plan Cancel the appointment of Villar de Cañas (Cuenca) to host the ATC, As reported by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.
VII PGRR sets out Government policy on the management of radioactive waste, including spent nuclear fuel, and on the dismantling and decommissioning of nuclear installations.
Completion of nuclear power plants postponed in Spain
Regarding the closure of nuclear power plants The sixth PGRR was expected to expire between 2021 and 2028, but will now extend between 2027 and 2035. In addition, the new plan envisages the dismantling of nuclear power plants to begin three years after the definitive cessation of activity, with the exception of Vandellós I (which has been stopped since 1989 due to a serious accident), the final phase of which will be carried out from 2030.
plan instead of ATC plans to launch seven Decentralized Temporary Repositories (ATD), for spent fuel and high-level waste at nuclear power plant sites, until they are transferred to final storage.
Each facility’s ATD will consist of Individual Interim Storage (ATI) plus a new complementary installation or additional measures to allow maintenance operations to be carried out on containers in which spent fuel is stored when the facility is no longer in use. operational.
Like this, The plan provides for continuity of actions to expand the capacity of Individualized Temporary Repositories (ATI). As foreseen in the sixth waste plan, nuclear power plants are allowed to operate and dismantle them for spent fuel.
In addition, the construction of definitive storage of spent fuel and high-activity waste in the Deep Geological Repository (AGP) is also being considered; This is a technical solution already provided in the sixth waste plan, according to the Ministry.
“Seventh plan, A road map for Spain to have a Deep Geological Repository, “Providing a preliminary information and public consultation process, similar to those developed in European countries that have already decided on the locations of their AGPs, such as Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and France,” the Ministry adds.
The plan also envisages the operation of the storage center. El Cabril (Cordoba) until the dismantling of the facilities is completed as planned in the sixth plan for medium, low and very low activity waste.
Processing of this seventh plan began in 2020; For the first time, the plan has a strategic environmental assessment, including a consultation and public information phase, and has been submitted to a report by the Nuclear Security Council (CSN) and the autonomous communities. . This plan replaces the plan approved in 2006, which was due to be updated in 2015.
The Ministry ensures that the plan is compatible with the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 (PNIEC), which sets the road map for Spain to achieve the European climate and energy targets, and the Protocol on the orderly cessation of operation of nuclear power plants, signed between Enresa and its owners in March 2019.
Regarding the future costs of 20.2 billion euros, they will be covered by the Fund for financing the activities of the PGRR, managed by Enresa and equipped with financial contributions from the owners of nuclear facilities, in accordance with the ‘polluter pays’ principle. . The government will notify the Cortes and the European Commission that the plan has been approved.