Garoña: countdown begins

2013/03/01 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Energia
• Ingurumena

From the beginning of the year, the Garoña nuclear power plant is standing. In principle it was authorized to act until July of this year, with the possibility of extending until 2019, since neither the Nuclear Security Council (CSN) nor the Spanish Government saw impediments to continue operating the plants. However, Nuclenor, owner of the plant, decided in late 2012 to remove the fuel from the reactor and cut off the activity. A month later, the government announced the definitive closure, although some media outlets point out that it is possible to reverse.

Nuclenor, formed by Endesa and Iberdrola, noted in his note of 28 December 2012 that the closure is due to the new government tax on nuclear power plants. Specifically, the Spanish congress decided at the end of December to establish a new tax on nuclear fuel used and radioactive waste generated. The tax is retroactive, so Nuclenor would be obliged to pay 153 million euros.

According to Nuclenor, this payment would be a disaster for employers and workers, so he decided to leave the reacting uranium bar and keep it in the inactivation pond "to protect workers' rights and the economic capacity of demolition jobs." Otherwise, from the first day of January, you would be required to

pay the tax.

Although environmental groups have eagerly taken the closing announcement, the reasons are economic and not others. For example, engineer Marcel Coderch believes this. "It should not be forgotten that from a technical point of view it had no impediment to operate until 2019, although the plant would already be 49 years old. And economically, if it continues to operate under the same conditions as it has so far, it would only have benefits, as it has long ago amortized construction costs."

That's why Nuclenor wanted to extend Garoña's performance. "Until the government decided to get some of the money it needs from nuclear power plants. Thus, he announced that at the end of the year he was going to apply new taxes and, therefore, Nuclenor does not get the bills right," explained Coderch.

Fuel used, stored in the pond. The water absorbs the heat it gives off and the salts present in the water prevent the reaction from resuming. Ed. © Nuclenor

Specifically, it would have to pay 2.190 euros per kilogram of fuel used. Coderch, however, does not seem disproportionate. "In Germany they pay 145 euros per gram of fuel, that is, 145,000 euros per kilo, 66 times more than in Spain."

In addition, if you wish to continue working, Nuclenor should undertake work to improve security measures by order of the European Union. In fact, after the Fukushima disaster, the European Union, concerned about the security of existing plants in the territory, carried out specific studies that showed the need to improve the security measures of many plants, including those of Garoña.

The action plan presented by the CSN in December last year in the European Union indicates that it should reform the structure to combat natural disasters, increase the reliability of the insulation capacitor, ensure permeability to avoid accidental drains... All this would force Nuclenor to make big investments.

Garoña is the second central in Spain. The first was the central José Cabrera (Zorita), which went into operation in 1968 and ran for 38 years until the government issued the closing order. La de Garoña began in 1971 and was the largest in Western Europe in its time. Currently it is the least capacity of the reactors in operation in Spain: It has a capacity of 466 MW, approximately 6% of the total productive capacity of Spanish nuclear power plants.

Limited experience

Now it seems that it will definitely close. The first step will be the design of the demolition plan, according to the criteria of the International Atomic Energy Agency (CECA). Subsequently, once the plan has been submitted, approved and authorized, the work begins. These works are carried out under the responsibility of Enresa, company in charge of radioactive waste in Spain, and are long-term.

Marcel Coderch is a telecommunications engineer and expert in energy and environmental issues. He is also the author of the book "The nuclear storm", together with Núria Almirón. Ed. © Marcel Coderch

Coderch recalled, however, that they have already done their first job, that is, they have removed the fuel from the reactor and have saved it in the pond. "It will also be the first time such a power plant will be demolished in Spain." It has a boiling water reactor (BWR), one of the few Europeans, and the twin of the total decomposition of Fukushima.

At the moment there are two plants in demolition phase: Vandellos I and José Cabrera. The reactor of the gas-cooled Vandellos I plant (GCR) is only 39 in the world. The demolition began in 1998 and since 2003 is in the second phase of the demolition, that is, only the reactor remains for its complete demolition. Once this is done, it will enter the third phase and the owners, Enresa and Iberdrola will have to decide what to do with the space that has occupied the central.

Meanwhile, they are at rest: The Vandellos I reactor is framed in a gigantic structure in which no one can enter until about twenty years pass. Until then, technicians carry out the usual monitoring and review tasks to ensure the absence of incidents.

The demolition of the central Vandellos I has been a pioneering experience for Enresa, after which the works of the central Zorita have come. With pressurized water reactor (PWR), it operated until 2006. That year the government ordered the closure of the plant and 4 years later authorized the start of the demolition plan in 2010. They are therefore in the first phase of demolition.

Therefore, Spain does not have much experience in the demolition of nuclear power plants, but it is not surprising: They are given a lifespan of between 40 and 60 years (in the United States there are 71 reactors authorized to act for 60 years), age to which they have already arrived. The oldest reactor in the world is 44 years old and so far very few power plants have been knocked down, namely eight in the United States and one in Japan. Closed or suspended, 143 reactors, most in Germany (27), the United States (28) and Great Britain (29).

What is coming, future

Social agents and environmentalists have long been demanding the closure of the Garoña plant. Ed. Image of a demonstration held in Bilbao in 2009. Ed. : Roberto Cacho/CC-BY-ND

Garoña will soon be added to this list. Nuclenor did not want to talk to Elhuyar magazine, so some questions remain unanswered. However, there are questions about which there is no doubt.

For example, Nuclenor has stated on numerous occasions that the electricity generated by the Garoña plant was essential to meet the energy needs of Spain. Marcel Coderch denies it: "The Garoña plant has been a symbol for the nuclear industry, but it is very small [it has capacity to generate 466 MW] and the electricity coming out of it is not at all necessary."

Francisco Castejón is a researcher at CIEMAT (Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research) and responsible for Ecologists in Action on nuclear energy issues. Coderch matches: "The Garoña plant is totally despicable." According to him, the plant is very obsolete and has clear deficiencies in security measures, "but if it is not necessary, so it does not make sense to continue working".

Further, Coderch said: "The data show that Spain currently has an electric surplus. Spain has enough wind farms and combined cycle power plants to meet energy demand." However, according to the 2012 Ministry of Industry report, taking into account the power plants generating more than 1,000 MW, 21.77% of the total electricity produced comes from nuclear power plants.

However, looking ahead, it seems that nuclear energy will lose strength, not only in Spain, but also around the world. This is evidenced by, for example, the European Union's energy forecasts for 2050 and the change in the construction of new power plants.

In fact, in recent years, more and more experts have warned that the trend should not be how to achieve an increase in energy production to respond to growing needs, but to reduce consumption, an aspect in which the European Union has joined.

Demolition of the external structure of the Vandellos I reactor. Ed. Information

On the other hand, a few years ago the nuclear industry suffered a certain recovery considering that the energy was clean; its supporters assured that it helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions and it seemed that they were going to build new plants there and here. Now, however, most of the intentions have remained in nothing.

Coderch is clear: "In these times no one wants to build a nuclear power plant in Europe. Expenses have skyrocketed and it is very difficult to monetize this investment. That is why they want to extend to the maximum the life of the plants in operation. Given this, I think it is necessary to reach an agreement between the owners of the plants, governments and society. Everyone would have to decide how long a plant can maintain its activity, as over the years the owners will increase their income, but at the same time increases the risk of an unforeseen occurrence."

According to Coderch, Spain has an important vacuum in this regard, but in other countries the problem is even more serious, especially in France. There his dependence on nuclear energy is very large: They have 58 reactors and produce three quarters of the energy they consume. "This dependency is unreasonable, at a time when a big mistake was made, and now they will have to decide how and with what to replace nuclear power plants as they reach the end of their useful life."

Returning from France to Garoña, Coderch wanted to clarify that the cost of the demolition of the plant is "theoretically" covered, since Enresa charged an amount of money per kilowatt generated by the plant to cover the demolition. "The truth is that you can't know how much is going to be really spent, not so much on demolition work, but above all on the safe storage of radioactive material."

Question pending. Francisco Castejón has spoken clearly: "For hundreds of thousands of years we have generated waste that will be radioactive without knowing what we will do with them. The only thing we can do until we find a solution is to create no more."

Research as a way to improve the next demolitions

During the demolition of the Vandellos I plant, Enresa created the Mestral technology centre in its facilities in 2004. And the reactor has to be in the care of Enresa for 25 years, so, according to Enresa, it was an ideal place to host the technology center.

From people to robots

In fact, the objective of the Mestral technology center is to improve the knowledge acquired in the demolition process and to promote research related to the destruction of nuclear facilities. They collaborate with other institutions, especially Rovira and Virgili University.

Enresa and the university have already carried out 34 joint projects in different areas: some of a technological-scientific character, other methodological and theoretical and, finally, they also develop projects related to social issues.

Shoot down Vandellos I. Ed. Information

Juaquín Farias is the coordinator of these projects. In his opinion, the demolition of Vandellos I generated a series of questions and challenges, "hence issues arose for the first research projects".

Among them, Farias highlighted the development of robots for carrying out radiological measurements: "The mission of robots is to measure the radioactivity of potentially contaminated walls. Vandellos worked with people and scaffolding. Now robots do with sensors and everything is managed through a computer application. This project has continued improvements and will continue in 2013. Meanwhile, robots developed by researchers are used in Zorita."

Radiation Cleaners

In addition, they test radiation cleaning techniques. For example, for the recovery of soils contaminated with radioactive isotopes studies have been carried out with special plants and some agricultural techniques. Farias explained that "these plants absorb from their roots heavy metals in the soil and accumulate them in the stem or in the leaves". Salix eleagnos (permanent), and Amaranthus retroflexus (annual) are two of the species investigated. "These investigations have been applied later in the mining restoration, as in Salamanca."

Measuring the radioactivity of the walls. Ed. Information

In addition to the radioactive isotopes on the earth, there are projects to eliminate those found in contaminated water. Filtration and evaporation or reverse osmosis processes are normally used, but these methods, in addition to being inefficient, are costly. To overcome these obstacles, Mestral investigates magmolecules.

"Magmolecules are organic molecules with iron atoms and have certain magnetism. They are selective adsorbents of some radioisotopes, such as cesium. Hemoglobin in blood is one example of the magmolecules present in nature and in the laboratory have tested others to clean contaminated water and measure pollution. In fact, a doctoral thesis has recently been presented in this regard. In fact, it sometimes happens that the radioactive isotope is at such a low concentration that it cannot be measured by conventional methods. The use of magmolecules allows to concentrate the radioisotopes and thus know to what extent the water is contaminated", explains Farias.

Most projects have a duration of one year and at the end decide whether to continue or not, depending on the results. "Both the robot and magmolecule projects have continuity and have been presented at the patent office."

Asking if studies are being carried out or planned for the next Garoña plant to be demolished in Spain, Farias responds that no: "In fact, the dismantling technology of nuclear power plants is developed and there are many nuclear power plants in the world in the process of demolition or demolition. However, given the uniqueness of each plant, specific planning is necessary. In Garoña they will have to start now."