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Spain mulls where to store its nuclear waste

As Spain looks to shut down its nuclear power plants over the coming decades, the government is now considering where to store the waste and, crucially, finding a location acceptable to locals.

Published: 31 January 2024 10:42 CET
Spain mulls where to store its nuclear waste
The nuclear power plant in Cofrentes, Valencia. Photo: Jose Jordan/AFP.

At the end of 2023, the Spanish government approved a General Radioactive Waste Plan (Plan General de Residuos Radiactivos, in Spanish, referred to as ‘PGRR’) that outlines its “policy on radioactive waste, including spent nuclear fuel, and the dismantling and closure of nuclear facilities.”

The PGRR confirms the staggered closure of all Spanish nuclear power plants between 2027 and 2035, something long planned, but also mulls exactly how (and where) would be best to store the nuclear waste once the plants are shut down.

The plan proposes seven radioactive waste storage sites around Spain, one at each of the active plants, and to store waste there temporarily for up to five decades before then building a bigger ‘deep geological repository’, something yet to be agreed, designed or given a location.

The aim is that this deep repository will be operational in 2073 and store the radioactive waste forever.

This is essentially a huge hole, and the technical difficulties of such a project mean it will not be ready for 50 years. However, another, more pressing aspect of the project is building the necessary social and political consensus to find and agree on a location.

READ ALSO: How important is nuclear power to Spain?

“The search for social consensus must be started now,” Juan Carlos Lentijo, President of Spain’s Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), told the Spanish press.

“We must begin to build the necessary structures for social participation. The participation of all interest groups must be guaranteed in the process, which is the choice of the site for the AGP (…) It is a process that is not only technical, but also social.”

Yet it’s not just locals who will need to be convinced. Energy companies and voices in the nuclear sector also have doubts about the plan and, more specifically, the time frame.

The government has argued that a “lack of social, political and institutional consensus” makes the option of a single temporary storage facility “unfeasible.” The nuclear sector claims that this is due to the fact that no regional authority is willing to host the site, despite the interest of some local councils.

In previous plans, the Ministry for Ecological Transition had earmarked the tiny town Villar de Cañas, Cuenca (in the Castilla-La Mancha region) as a location to store the nuclear waste, temporarily at least, but it has since been ruled out with the latest plan.

The process will be lengthy. Between 2026 and 2028, legislation will be introduced to regulate the site selection process; between 2029 and 2032, a list of possible locations will be drawn up; between 2033 and 2039, analysis of the sites will be carried out and a final candidate chosen; between 2040 and 2059, studies of the site’s suitability will be carried out; between 2060 and 2071, construction work on the storage facility will take place; and, finally, the aim is that the site will be operational by 2073.

Spain’s major electricity companies, however, many of which own the nuclear reactor sites, are calling for the waste storage site to be brought forward and operational by 2050.

Spain has seven active nuclear plants, located across Cáceres, Tarragona, Guadalajara, and Valencia. Spain also has a nuclear fuel factory in Juzbado, close to Salamanca, and a radioactive waste disposal location at El Cabril, in Córdoba, southern Spain.

These plants generate roughly a fifth of Spain’s total energy consumption, a figure far behind other countries, particularly neighbouring France, who generated 69 percent of its total electricity from nuclear in 2021.

Owing to the fact that Spain’s nuclear power comes from plants built decades ago (all were built, or at least planned, during the Franco dictatorship) they were not designed to be active for more than forty years, and were built with expiration dates in mind.

No government has proposed opening more, despite the recent energy crisis.

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing a May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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