ENS statement on Garoña NPP

The European Nuclear Society (ENS) was founded in 1975 and is the federation of 23 national nuclear societies from 23 countries around Europe. The aim of the ENS is, among other issues, to promote and to contribute to the advancement of science and engineering in the field of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. We believe that the nuclear scientific community has to disseminate information to decision-makers and the public in an unbiased and transparent manner in order to be bale to explain the benefits of and the need for nuclear energy. In this context, the European Nuclear Society wishes to express views in relationship with the possible closure of the Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant, in Spain.

Santa María de Garoña NPP started its commercial operation in 1971. Since then, the plant has been upgraded to the safety standards applicable at each moment in time in order to comply with more stringent safety requirements recommended by the plant manufacturer and endorsed by the Spanish Nuclear Regulator (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, CSN) which were not originally applicable at the time when the precedent licenses were issued.

By Law, Spanish nuclear power plants do not have specific fixed lifetimes, but rather are granted operating licences for periods of 10 years. Garoña NPP is therefore technically not at the end of its lifetime. Indeed, exceeding the design lifetime of a nuclear power plant does not mean that the service or operating lifetime of the facility has finished, and running beyond the design lifetime does not mean that the plant cannot continue to operate safely.

In the United-States, the country from where Garoña NPP technology comes, 54 out of 104 NPP’s have already licenses to operate up to 60 years with 19 more under evaluation by the United-States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Furthermore, 8 NPP’s with very similar characteristics to Garoña have been licensed to operate for 60 years.

Given this international background and following the conclusions published by the only competent safety regulatory authority for nuclear matters in Spain, the CSN, and without entering into any political considerations, we, the European Nuclear Society, strongly supports the continuation of Garoña Nuclear Power Plant operations for 10 more years.

The European Nuclear Society