Spain news at nuclear.com

A deal between Spanish investors and a German utility (perhaps EnBW -- Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG) is being discussed to construct an advanced European PWR in Spain. Italian investers may also get involved, and Italy may end up being the site of the new plant.

[Ref: Mark Hibbs (Platts-Bonn), "EDF presses German utilities to join French EPR project", Nucleonics Week,Êv44 n48, November 27, 2003,Êp. 1]

Nuclear facility management in Spain

The explanation of the relations between the Spanish company responsible for the administration of radioactive wastes and the territory should be given while keeping in mind what the history of the nuclear energy in Spain is and therefore what the population's relation is regarding that history, including radioactive wastes.

In Spain the territories with nuclear facilities are organized in AMAC. It is an association that defends their interests before the administrations and the companies.

The objective is to define the basic principles that should preside over all relations when one speaks of any installation within the cycle of nuclear fuel, understanding that there are some fundamental principles that should always be respected if basic governance is looked for in this matter.

This has been carried out in Spain by defining the fundamental pillars and applying them in different ways, not always satisfactory for the territory.

Regarding the compensations, a clearly defined system of compensations for different classes of radioactive waste storages exists in Spain.

City councils receive these compensations as non-refundable and these are compatible with other types of aid that depend especially on the agreements existing between municipalities and companies.This type of agreements exists practically in all the locations with nuclear facilities, including Hornachuelos.

The municipalities dedicate most of these funds to local infrastructures in order to help local economic development.

Local public activities are especially designed to boost tourist and industrial development starting with public initiatives leading to the presence of private companies.

Three concrete cases of relations between ENRESA and the municipalities are presented:

The first one refers to the municipality of Hornachuelos where facilities for stocking low and medium activity radioactive wastes are located.

The second one is about the area of Trillo where an intermediate storage of high activity radioactive wastes is located and the area of Zorita where an identical installation to the one in Trillo should be sited.

And the third one refers to the municipality of Vandellos where ENRESA has dismantled a nuclear power plant and has left a temporary storage ofmedium activity radioactive wastes.

All these experiences have led to the definition of a concrete proposal from AMAC regarding the long-term governance in terms of radioactive wastes and at the same time to define a strategy to obtain respect regarding the basic principles to be defined in the future.

[Source: The Korea Herald, "Nuclear waste repositories in Sweden, Spain, Japan", November 27, 2003 (Excerpted from presentation at the International Symposium on Radioactive Waste Management 2003)

August 13, 2003

The CSN, Spain's nuclear safety commission, said that Spain's nuclear power stations are working normally because water is available for cooling in nearby rivers. Heavy rain in early 2003 means that reservoirs are at 70 per cent of their capacity. Over the last few days, between 10am and 5pm, Spain has been exporting about 1,000 MW to France. It is normally France which exports power to Spain. Domestic nuclear power stations generate about 30 per cent of Spain's electricity, and are coping well with the heat wave, despite the 18 per cent rise in power consumption.

[Ref: Expansion (Madrid), " Espana exporta electricidad a Francia ante la crisis nuclear", August 13, 2003

* Spain 1998

from U Chicago 2004

U Chicago 2004 from NEA 2000 data
[Source: Nuclear Energy Agency (2000), as presented by THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF NUCLEAR POWER: A Study Conducted at The University of Chicago, August 2004, p. 2-5]

1986

Mean individual dose to Spaniards from Chernobyl accident (over 50-year period) is projected to be 1.2 microSieverts. The collective dose to Spaniards over the same period is projected to be 45 person-Sieverts. The projections take into account inhalation from the passing cloud, ingestion through the food chain, and external irradiation from deposited radioactivity, and are based on the MESOS dispersion model developed by Helen ApSimon of Imperial College, as applied by W. Nixon, of the Safety and Reliability Directorate of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority. [Ref: Nuclear News, "Chernobyl doses across the continent", January 1987, p. 62]