Nuclear Power in Spain

(updated 26 February 2010)

• Spain has eight nuclear reactors generating a fifth of its electricity.
• Its first commercial nuclear power reactor began operating in 1968.
• Government commitment to the future of nuclear energy in Spain is uncertain, but firming up.
  

Electricity consumption in Spain has been increasing steadily and in 2006 grew 2.5%. Per capita it is about 5600 kWh/yr.

Power production in 2007 was 306 billion kWh gross, 18% of this from nuclear power, 24% from coal and 31% from gas.  Spain is essentially an island separate from the EU grid - about 2% of power is imported from France and a similar amount exported to Portugal.  Nuclear supplied 52.7 billion kWh net (17.4%) in 2007 – the lowest level for some years

Total generating capacity was 82 GWe in 2006, 7.5 GWe of this nuclear. Wind capacity at the end of 2006 reached 11.6 GWe. In 1997 the electricity market was liberalised.

Government policy and industry development

In 1964 construction started on the first of three nuclear power reactors - Jose Cabrera, Zorita, a small pressurised water reactor. Two years later construction of Santa Maria de Garona, a medium-sized boiling water reactor was started, followed two years later by Vandellos-1, a medium-sized gas-cooled reactor similar to UK's Magnox units. This is the only one to have so far closed down. This first generation of Spanish units - all turnkey projects - gave practical experience with three different designs, and led to a focus largely on PWR types in the 1970s.

In 1972 ENUSA (Empresa Nacional del Uranio, SA, now now ENUSA Industrias Avanzadas SA), a state-owned company, was set up to take over all of the nuclear front-end activities.

In the early 1970s construction was started on a second generation of seven reactors, five of which were completed. These involved local engineering companies Empresarios Agrupados and INITEC and the state-owned manufacturer ENSA (Equipos Nucleares SA).

In the early 1980s, construction of a third generation of five plants was started, but following a 1983 moratorium, only two were completed - Trillo-1 and Vandellos-2. In 1994 the moratorium was confirmed and five units under construction were abandoned.

Nuclear plant ownership and operation is mostly by the Spanish-based but now international utility Endesa SA (originally Empresa Nacional de Electricidad S.A) and Iberdrola.  Endesa is 92% owned by Italy’s Enel.  Endesa and Iberdrola have a joint venture operating company: Asociacion Nuclear Asco-Vandellos (ANAV) which covers the 40% of the country's nuclear capacity, in Catalonia.  Another joint operating company is Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo (CNAT), covering the central and west 39% of capacity.  Nucleares del Norte (Nuclenor) owns and operates the Santa Maria de Garona plant in the northern province of Burgos.  It thus pioneered nuclear generation in Spain.

Spain is notable for power plant uprates. It has a program to add 810 MWe (11%) to its nuclear capacity through upgrading its nine reactors by up to 13%. For instance, the Almarez nuclear plant is being boosted by more than 5% at a cost of US$ 50 million. Some 519 MWe of the overall increase is already in place.

Cofrentes was uprated 2% in 1988, another 2.2% in 1998, 5.6% in 2002 and 1.9% in 2003, taking it to 112% of original capacity. Tentative plans will take it to 120% later in the decade.

Licence renewal for the Santa Maria de Garona plant came up for review in 2009, and in June the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) recommended that a 10-year extension be granted, to 2019. The CSN said that plant owner and operator Nuclenor had implemented a comprehensive work program to keep the 40-year old reactor fully serviceable, having spent some EUR 155 million on it.  The Socialist government, with a policy of closing down Spanish nuclear plants as early as possible, granted only a four-year licence extension, to 2013.

Power reactors operating in Spain

Reactors	Type	Net MWe	First power	Commercial operation	Owner (%), operator	Licence expires
Almaraz 1	PWR	947	1981	1981	Iberdrola (53%), CNAT	2021
Almaraz 2	PWR	956	1983	1984	Iberdrola (53%), CNAT	2023
Asco 1	PWR	996	1983	1984	Endesa (100%), ANAV	2023
Asco 2	PWR	992	1985	1986	Endesa (85%), ANAV	2025
Cofrentes	BWR	1063	1984	1985	Iberdrola (100%), Iberdrola	2034
Santa Maria de Garona	BWR	446	1968	1971	Nuclenor (100%), Nuclenor	2013
Trillo 1	PWR	1003	1988	1988	Iberdrola (48%), CNAT	2028
Vandellos 2	PWR	1045	1987	1988	Endesa (78%), ANAV	2027
Total (8)		7448 MWe

The Program of Advanced Nuclear Plants is working on the development of Westinghouse AP 600 and GE Advanced Boiling Water Reactors. Spain is also participating in the development of European Utility Requirements (EUR) in relation to advanced nuclear technology and is part of the International Atomic Energy Agency's INPRO project.

Uranium mining

Uranium was discovered in Salamanca during the 1950s. Production commenced in 1974 at ENUSA's Fe mine, which grew to become the largest uranium mine in the Iberian Peninsula. It produced over 4000 tU. The mine closed in 2000 due to low uranium prices, though minor output continued to 2002 from decommissioning, and the mining areas have since been restored. One large pit and three small ones are involved.

Australian-based Berkeley Resources owns uranium properties in Salamanca province with JORC-compliant indicated and inferred resources of 8700 tonnes of uranium in the Retortillo area. It proposes using the Quercus mill (Saelices el Chico) which was operational to 2003 to process production, partly from heap leaching. The mill, with capacity of about 800 tU/yr, has been on care and maintenance since 2003. In 2006 Berkeley negotiated a tentative sales agreement with Areva, but this terminated in 2010.

In December 2008 Berkeley announced an agreement with ENUSA to undertake an 18-month feasibility study on restarting uranium mining. It is focused on the Aguila and Alameda areas close to the Quercus mill. Berkeley will have the right to acquire up to 90% of ENUSA's mining and exploration assets, including the Quercus mill which will form part of its Salamanca Project.

The ENUSA assets in the Aguila Area include three significant deposits – Sageras, Majuelos and Palacios two of which have been previously mined as Mina Fe. These have 8000 tU (JORC-compliant), half of this as measured and indicated resources. Also included in the ENUSA agreement are the less advanced but extensively drilled Alameda and Esperanza deposits, the former about 10km west of Aguila. Berkeley has an exploration target of 11,000 tU for these based on ENUSA's earlier work, and JORC-compliant figures for Alameda are expected by mid 2010. Berkeley's own Retortillo area, with Retortillo, Santidad and some smaller deposits, is 25 km northeast of Aguila.

Berkeley paid EUR 5 million for the ENUSA database and the government has approved the overall agreement.  After the study, about late 2010, it may pay a further EUR 20 million for the 90% equity in a joint venture company owning the assets.  This could enable production from 2012.  Polo Resources is funding much of the feasibility study through a share placement.

Apart from Salamanca, Berkeley has some other projects including Caceres VI not far away with 4000 tU inferred resource (based on ENUSA work), and two other in the east of the country.

Canada-based Mawson Resources is also active in exploration in Salamanca, focused on the Don Benito prospect.

The 1600 tonnes of uranium used in Spain each year is imported.  ENUSA has a 10% stake in mining in COMINAK, mining at Akouta in Niger.

Fuel cycle facilities 

There are no conversion or enrichment facilities in Spain, but ENUSA owns 11% of Eurodif, with a large diffusion enrichment plant at Marcoule in France. It also contracts for other conversion and enrichment services abroad.

ENUSA's Juzbado plant in Salamanca, commissioned in 1985, produces BWR and PWR fuel elements for Spain's reactors and also supplies other customers in Europe.  In 2008 more than half of its 921 fuel assemblies were exported.

GNF ENUSA Nuclear Fuel S.A. (GENUSA) is jointly owned by Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, LLC (a GE-led joint venture with Hitachi and Toshiba) and ENUSA. It was set up in 1989 and markets BWR fuel in Europe.

In 1991, ENUSA with Westinghouse Electric Corporation and British Nuclear Fuel Ltd (BNFL), created the European Fuel Group (EFG), with the purpose of a joint action in the European PWR nuclear fuel market.

Radioactive Waste Management

ENRESA (Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos SA) was established in 1984 as a state-owned company to take over radioactive waste management and decommissioning of nuclear plants. It is now the only state-owned part of the nuclear fuel cycle in Spain.

It drew up a General Plan for radioactive wastes which was approved by parliament in 1999. Its is based on nuclear power plant lives of 40 years, and addresses the need to manage almost 200,000 cubic metres of low and intermediate-level wastes and 10,000 cubic metres of spent fuel and other high-level wastes.

Since 1983 Spain's policy has been for an open fuel cycle, with no reprocessing. The plan for spent fuel envisages initial storage at each reactor for ten years. Some temporary storage for dry casks is also envisaged at Trillo up to 2010 and establishment of a longer-term centralised facility from then. Meanwhile research will progress on deep geological disposal as well as transmutation, with a decision on disposal to be made after 2010. Granite, clay and salt formations are under consideration. 

In mid 2006 Parliament approved ENRESA's plans to develop a temporary central nuclear waste storage facility by 2010, and the CSN approved its design, which was similar to the Habog facility in the Netherlands. In December 2009 the government called for municipalities to volunteer to host this EUR 700 million facility for high-level wastes and used fuel. The government offered to pay up to EUR 7.8 million annually once the facility is operational. It is designed to hold for 100 years 6700 tonnes of used fuel and 2600 m³ of intermediate-level wastes, plus 12 m³ of high-level waste from reprocessing the Vandellos-1 fuel. The facility is to be built in three stages, each taking five years.  Asco is one town that has volunteered.

Waste management and decommissioning is funded by a levy of about 1% on all electricity consumed.

ENRESA has a medium and low-level radioactive waste storage facility at El Cabril, Cordoba.

Decommissioning

Vandellos-1, a 480 MWe gas-graphite reactor, was closed down in mid 1990 after 18 years operation, due to a turbine fire which made the plant uneconomic to repair. In 2003 ENRESA concluded phase 2 of the reactor decommissioning and dismantling project, which allows much of the site to be released. After 30 years Safestor, when activity levels have diminished by 95%, the remainder of the plant will be removed.

The cost of the 63-month project was EUR 93 million.

In April 2006 the 142 MWe Jose Cabrera (Zorita) plant was closed after 38 years operation. Dismantling the plant will be undertaken over six years from 2010 by Enresa - total cost is estimated at EUR 135 million. About 4% of the plant's constituent material will need to be disposed of as radioactive waste, the rest can be recycled, including 43 tonnes of internal components.

Regulation and safety

In 1980 the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (CSN - nuclear safety council) was set up to take over both nuclear safety and radiological protection matters. The CSN was overhauled in 2007, following an incident in 2004 at Vandellos-2, and the scope for penalties increased.

In 2009 Endesa was fined EUR 15.4 million over a radioactive release incident during a refuelling operation at Asco-1 in 2007.  There were six charges of breaching safety rules.  The incident was rated 2 on the INES scale.

Licensing is under a 1964 law (amended) and 1999 regulations by the Economic Ministry, advised by CSN and Ministry of Environment.

Civil liability for nuclear damage is covered under international conventions to which Spain is party - the IAEA Vienna Convention and the OECD Paris and Brussels Conventions. Operators need to cover EUR 150 million.

Non-proliferation

Spain is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state. Its safeguards agreement under the NPT came into force in 1967 and in 1985 it came under the Euratom safeguards arrangement. In 1998 it signed the Additional Protocol in relation to its safeguards agreements with both IAEA and Euratom.

Main References:
IAEA, Country Nuclear Power Profiles.

ForoNuclear

Berkeley Resources

參考來源:World Nuclear Association