Spain orders review to keep nuclear plant open

 

Spain is reviewing a plan to close one of its eight nuclear power stations, a move that could herald a more pro-nuclear policy by the new conservative government compared to its socialist predecessor.

Spain's industry minister will ask regulators from the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) to produce a safety report on the 40-year-old Garona plant near the northern city of Burgos, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told reporters.

The People's Party, which took power two weeks ago, has said it will keep Garona open if the CSN says it is safe.

That reverses a 2009 decision by the Socialist government to close Garona by 2013, despite the fact that the CSN said it could safely operate until 2019, which had been in line with pledges to gradually replace nuclear with then-booming renewable energy sources.

Environmental groups have protested that Spain has failed to match countries like Germany, which closed seven nuclear plants younger than Garona after the Fukushima disaster and plans to shut the rest within a decade.

Garona provides less than one percent of Spain's electricity, but its owners - Spain's biggest utilities Iberdrola and Endesa - have fiercely resisted its closure.

Both major parties agree, however, that Spain's other seven reactors need to keep running until at least the 2020s because together they meet 20% of Spain's electricity needs.