Spanish PM announces reforms to nuclear power legislation
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By m.p. - Jul 5, 2009 - 5:40 PM
A national energy plan up until 2030 will be presented this autumn

The Prime Minister has announced reforms to legislation on nuclear energy which will tighten up requirements for any extension to a plant’s licence. It comes after the government last week decided to extend by four years the operating licence for the ageing Garoña plant in Burgos, amid protests from both ecologists and from staff at the plant.

The proposed reforms will mean a report on environmental impact will be required before any extension to a licence can be granted, and it’s reported by Público that the amended legislation will also define the useful life of a nuclear plant.

Speaking at a meeting with young Socialists on Sunday, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said a government national energy plan to cover up until 2030 will be presented this autumn.

Público also reports a ministerial order published by the Industry Ministry in the State Bulletin this Saturday which prohibits Garoña’s owner, Nuclenor, from taking any action which will prevent the plant from ceasing operations as planned in 2013. The Bulletin publishes the closure date as 6th July 2013. The aim, the paper said, is to prevent a new government after the 2012 general election from revoking the decision to close the ageing plant, a decision which the Deputy Prime Minister, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, described this weekend as ‘definitive and irreversible’. The newspaper however quoted legal experts and sources in the atomic energy sector as saying there are ways for the party which wins in the next national poll to overturn the decision.

The Deputy Prime Minister confirmed this weekend that the industrial plan for the Garoña area will be prepared over the next three months to guarantee jobs for all the staff affected. The plan is to be put in place for a three year period.

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