The government has spent years advancing a new framework for handling radioactive waste, known as the General Radioactive Waste Plan (PGRR). The manager holds a concrete roadmap detailing how waste will be managed, how nuclear power plants will be dismantled, and how funding for all activities over the coming decades will be allocated. Yet, the plan’s final approval by the industry is anticipated to arrive only after the next general election in 23J.
Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera confirmed that the preparatory work for the future PGRR is complete, but the Government’s formal sign-off is expected after the elections at the end of July. She indicated to reporters before addressing the annual Wind Energy Association convention (AEE) that more urgent steps will be required in the short term and that the Waste Plan would likely be finalized after the electoral period.
The discussion during the election campaign has centered on whether Spain should build centralized nuclear cemeteries. The plan under consideration from the Manager envisions seven separate warehouses, one adjacent to each nuclear power plant, to store radioactive waste after plant shutdowns.—a process slated to begin with closures between 2027 and 2035 and to extend to permanent storage beyond 2073.
After keeping options open for months, the Socialist administration initially rejected a single central repository, committing instead to seven distinct depots. In contrast, Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s People’s Party has promoted revisiting and delaying the shutdown schedule, aligning with electricity companies, and even endorsing the alternative of a single repository and a revived Villar de Cañas project in Cuenca.
Villar de Cañas case
Just a month after Pedro Sánchez took office in 2018, a newly released administrator halted all activities related to a central temporary depot (ATC) at Villar de Cañas and prompted the Security Council to suspend Nuclear Security Council (CSN) proceedings. Technical concerns about land quality and local administration objections led to the pause.
In recent months, the People’s Party has pushed for reactivating the Villar de Cañas project in Congress as part of its program to address the energy crisis. The mayor of Cuenca, a winner in the 28M elections, has shown continued support for the project in line with these efforts.
From the Ministry of Ecological Transition, it has been argued that a lack of social, political, and institutional consensus at the drafting stage made the option of a single central repository infeasible. In the nuclear sector, this view is attributed to the absence of autonomous communities willing to host a nuclear cemetery, despite interest from some municipalities.
Castilla-La Mancha’s regional government, led by Emiliano García-Page, has consistently opposed a Villar de Cañas cemetery, citing legal and political concerns. The Villar de Cañas site was selected in 2011 during the Mariano Rajoy administration with backing from the regional board led by María Dolores de Cospedal.
Plan and electricity
The current government’s proposal to erect seven nuclear cemeteries is seen as the most costly option by operating power plants. It would cost roughly €2,100 million more than a single warehouse and risks leaving existing plant sites to store waste for decades, potentially delaying other industrial projects that could follow their shutdown and dismantling.
Nuclear companies such as Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy, and EDP have been warned by employers’ associations about shouldering the multimillion-dollar extra expense required for seven depots and the necessary capacity to ensure safety for surrounding facilities and proper waste treatment. The surprise cost to manage nuclear waste through 2100 is estimated at about €19,200 million if seven temporary silos are chosen, compared with the previously projected €2,000 million at fixed prices, a variance that could raise electricity rates for consumers.
Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy, and EDP attribute these added costs to the delays in advancing the old central depot project at Villar de Cañas caused by political disagreement. They argue these costs should be treated as part of the electricity system and allocated through the electricity tariff charged to every consumer.
In response, these companies maintain that the latest PGRR proposals should reflect the delay-driven costs as legitimate system-wide expenses rather than burdens placed on a specific group of consumers or plants, aligning with fiscal and regulatory considerations for the sector.