Spain’s Nuclenor Fails To Reach Decision On Garoña Restart

1 May (NucNet): The board and shareholders of Nuclenor, operator of the single-unit Garoña nuclear power station in Burgos, northern Spain, failed in meetings on 26 April 2017 to reach a decision on whether to permanently close the facility, Nuclenor said in a statement. “During the board meeting no agreement was reached, so the matter was referred to the shareholders’ meeting which followed, where also no agreement was reached,” Nuclenor said. The 446-MW boiling water reactor was shut down in December 2012, six months before its operational licence was due to expire. At the time, Nuclenor blamed the shutdown on a tax on energy production and spent nuclear fuel that it said would have made the plant’s operation economically unviable. In May 2014, Nuclenor submitted a request to renew the operating licence after a change in national law allowed nuclear power stations that have shut down for reasons not related to safety to restart. Garoña began commercial operation in 1971. CSN updated its operational and safety requirements in 2012 and in 2014 as a result of European Union-mandated post-Fukushima stress tests. Spain has seven commercial nuclear reactors which accounted for 21.38% of the country’s total electricity output in 2016, up from 20.34% in 2015 and more than any other source.