Spain said on Thursday that its oldest nuclear power station in Garoña, which was built 40 years ago, can stay open for another four years. It's the Socialist government's first test of its electoral pledge to phase out nuclear energy.

text and photos by Rop Zoutberg

Despite Prime Minister Zapatero’s election promises last year that Spanish nuclear power plants would be closed in favour of alternative energy sources, Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian told journalists on Thursday evening that "The government's decision is to allow the nuclear power station to run for another four years until 2013, when activities will cease."
 

The move will please neither the operators of the plant who had asked for a ten-year renewal, nor environmentalists, who had called for its immediate closure.
 

Heated debate
It was a heated debate. While environmental organisations demanded that the Prime Minister kept to his promises, Alberto Gonzalez, chairman of the works council of Garoña, said he didn't understand Mr Zapatero’s attitude at all.

"It’s about saving hundreds of jobs. They will disappear if Prime Minister Zapatero closes the doors here, because of his personal aversion to nuclear energy.

"All over Europe, as well as in the US, nuclear power plants are being kept open longer. Nuclear energy is considered crucial for the future. We want this to be the case in Spain too."

New balance
Garoña is a small plant compared to the other seven plants in Spain. Altogether the nuclear power plants produce around 20 percent of the country’s energy. Another 20 percent comes from wind, water and solar plants. The rest is generated by oil and gas-fuelled plants.

Spain needs to find a new balance, says professor in nuclear energy Juan José Gomez.

"You must realise that Spain doesn’t have any gas or oil supplies of its own and that fossil fuels are running out. We cannot just close the doors to alternatives. An alternative is solar power. Wind power. But also nuclear energy."

What is changing is that nuclear power plants are no longer considered conflicting with windmills or solar panels, says Gomez.

"People are also realising that the wind and sun cannot cover the entire demand. Possibly this will be the case in the long run. But that’s a hundred years from now."

Protests continue
The protests of supporters and opponents of closing the plant in Garoña continue after the government has made its decision. On the one hand Greenpeace has charged the prime minister with failing to keep election promises and bowing to pressure from nuclear power producers. It said in a statement: "With this deplorable decision, the government has also decided to continue exposing the population and the environment to the risk of a nuclear accident at this dangerous installation."
 

One the other hand Jose Ramon Torralbo, manager of the Garona plant, sayes operating company Nuclenor will fight the decision in the courts. "Faced with this situation, Nuclenor will take such legal action as concerns the defence of all the affected parties' legitimate rights and interests (against) an arbitrary decision that is not justified."

Source of income for cloister
For a group of nuns from the cloister Santa Clara in Medina de Pomar, not far from Garoña, the decision no doubt comes as a relief. The nuns, who never leave their cloister, wash the plant’s towels every week. They were afraid they would lose their main source of income from the nuclear power plant.

One of the nuns said:

"This doesn’t only apply to us, but also to many families who live in the area. We accept the Lord’s decision, but we would rather the nuclear power plant doesn’t close. Because we see it functions well."