WNN Articles
(July 2009)
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
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
Operation of the Saelices el Chico (Salamanca) uranium mine ended in 2000, though minor output continued to 2002 from decommissioning. A number of other mines are also being decommissioned. Mina Fe appears to have been the largest of these. It was mined by ENUSA from 1974 to 1990 and produced over 4000 tU.
Australian-based Berkeley Resources owns uranium properties in Salamanca province with JORC-compliant resources of 6500 tonnes of uranium and is investigating using the Quercus mill (Saelices el Chico ) which was operational to 2003 to process production. Its capacity is about 800 tU/yr. Berkeley has farm-in arrangements with local company Rio Alagon. Canada-based Mawson Resources is also active in exploration in Salamanca.
In December 2008 Berkeley Resources announced an agreement with ENUSA to undertake an 18 month feasibility study on restarting uranium mining. Berkeley will have the right to acquire up to 90% of ENUSA's mining and exploration assets, including the Quercus mill. Berkeley aims to prove up at least 25,000 tU in addition to its own Salamanca resources. The ENUSA assets include three "advanced" deposits - Sageras, Zona M and Minas D - with historical resource estimates of 6500 tU and which are extensions of the previously mined Fe deposit close to the Quercus mill. Also included are the less advanced but extensively drilled Alameda and Esperanza deposits, for which Berkeley has an exploration target of 11,000 tU. Berkeley has now 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.
The 1600 tonnes of uranium used in Spain each year is imported. ENUSA has a 10% stake in mining 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, commissioned in 1985, produces BWR and PWR fuel elements for Spain's reactors and also supplies other customers in Europe.
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 May 2006 Parliament approved plans for ENRESA to develop a temporary central nuclear waste storage facility costing over EUR 600 million by 2010. A site is to be identified in 2007.
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 from 2009 by Enresa - total cost is estimated at EUR 135 million.
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.
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