Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant
| Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant | |
  Location of Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant in Spain | |
| Country | Spain |
| Coordinates | 42°46′31.08″N 3°12′26.25″W / 42.7753000°N 3.2072917°WCoordinates: 42°46′31.08″N 3°12′26.25″W / 42.7753000°N 3.2072917°W |
| Status | Mothballed |
| Construction began | 1 September 1966 |
| Commission date | 11 May 1971 |
| Operator(s) | Nuclenor S.A. (Iberdrola and Endesa) |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | boiling water reactor |
| Reactor supplier | General Electric |
| Power generation | |
| Units decommissioned | 1 x 466 MW |
Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant is a mothballed nuclear power station at Santa María de Garoña, Burgos (Spain). It consists of one boiling water reactor (BWR) of 466 megawatts (MWe).
The reactor vessel was built in 1966 by the Dutch RDM.,[1] being the oldest Spanish Nuclear Power Plant in service.[2] The reactor is a BWR/3 model with a Mark I containment building.
The plant was opened in 1971 and officially closed on 5 July 2013. Nuclenor, the plant's operator, had sought a ten-year extension, which was supported by Spain's Nuclear Safety Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, CSN) despite Spain's policy of phasing out nuclear power. On 2 July 2009, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade compromised, extending the operating license for an additional four years subject to safety upgrades, though this extension was never used.[3][4]
On December 16, 2012, the plant operator Nuclenor has begun shutting down the nuclear power plant, which was due to close in mid-2013, to avoid producing taxable power during 2013. The decision was spurred by an impending law, which would impose a tax in the annual sum of about €150 million. The safety upgrades required for extension of the operation would have cost some €120 million.[5]
On May 2014, following a change in national law allowing nuclear power stations restart, Nuclenor submitted a request to renew the operating licence, allowing to operate the plant until 2 March 2031.[6]
On July 2014, Nuclenor was fined €18.4 million by the Spanish National Commission on Financial Markets and Competition (CNMC), for having shut down the reactor in December 2012, months before its operational licence was due to expire on 6 July 2013.[6]
Garoña vessel inspection
On March 2015 Nuclenor announced that inspections made in November and December 2014 checked the reactor vessel good condition, with no manufacturing defects detected. More than forty GE Hitachi and Tecnatom experts collected data from nine million points on the vessel's surface, for more than 1000 hours and using advanced ultrasound systems and submersible robots.[7]
References
- ↑ http://www.shipmotions.nl/RDM/RDM-MF/RDM-MF-1968A.html
- ↑ Spain's oldest nuclear plant shuts down Reuters, 16 December 2012
- ↑ "Garoña gets 'irresponsible' and 'arbitrary' life extension". World Nuclear News. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
- ↑ "Spain Extends Garona Nuclear Plant Operation 4 Yrs". Dow Jones. July 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
- ↑ "Garona officially closes". World Nuclear News. 8 July 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
- 1 2 "Nuclenor Fined EUR 18.4 Million Over Early Closure Of Garoña". www.nucnet.org. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ↑ "Nuclenor confirms soundness of Garoña vessel". www.world-nuclear-news.org. 13 April 2015. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
External links
- Central Nuclear Santa Maria de Garoña — Nuclenor website (Spanish)
- Nuclear Power Plants - Spain at the Nuclear Tourist website.
- Greenpeace blockades ageing Spanish nuclear plant
- People vote for the definite close of Garoña