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Under pressure from nuclear lobby, Spain extends life of reactors

With much propaganda, but no truth or accurate information, the nuclear lobby was quick to proclaim everywhere that the recently adopted Law of ‘Sustainable’ Economy now allows the Spanish government to ‘extend the life of nuclear plants beyond the 40 years hitherto permitted’.

Spain’s nuclear spin | Greenpeace International, 26 Feb 2011, We are living in troubled times in Spain thanks to nuclear energy. The incoherence and inconsistency of the socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero about nuclear energy in the last few weeks has plunged us into confusion. The nuclear lobby is taking advantage of this situation, proving the Spanish proverb that ‘in troubled waters, fishermen gain’.

With much propaganda, but no truth or accurate information, the nuclear lobby was quick to proclaim everywhere that the recently adopted Law of ‘Sustainable’ Economy now allows the Spanish government to ‘extend the life of nuclear plants beyond the 40 years hitherto permitted’.

That’s doubly false. On the one hand, it’s not true that Spanish law says nuclear plants could operate for 40 years and, secondly, it’s not true that the Law of ‘Sustainable’ Economy now allows the extension of the lifetime of nuclear plants beyond 40 years.

In Spain, nuclear plants have never had a certain lifetime set by law. All nuclear power plants are granted temporary operating permits that have to be renewed – at the request of the owner of the plant – by authorization of the central government. This only after receiving the required – but not binding – favourable report from the Nuclear Safety Council.

Rewind to early July 2009, when the operating license expired on the Garoña nuclear plant (38 years old and suffering serious safety problems). The company owner, Nuclenor, had requested an extension of ten years until 2019. The Zapatero Government, instead of closing the plant in 2009, finally decided to order the termination of its operation in 2013. A few days later, stung by criticism, the government publicly announced that the Law of Sustainable Economy would set the the lifetime of nuclear plants at 40 years, fulfilling its election promise…………..

the only thing that is true is that the Zapatero government has backed away under pressure from the nuclear lobby and has broken its promise to fix in law the 40-year lifetime for nuclear power plants. It has renounced its commitment to its citizens to phase out nuclear energy.

Spain’s nuclear spin | Greenpeace International

February 26, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Spain