Nuclear power in Spain

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Nuclear power plants in Spain (view)
 Active plants
 Closed plants
 Unfinished plants
The contribution from nuclear power to Spain's energy portfolio increased until about 1988 and remained near constant from there on. After that its market share declined as demand rose.[1]

Spain has five active nuclear power plants with seven reactors producing 20% of the country's electricity as of 2023.[2]

A nuclear power moratorium was enacted by the Socialist government in 1983.[3] For a time the country had a policy of phasing out nuclear power in favor of renewables.[4] It ended in 1997 but no public or private company has been interested in building new nuclear plants. The oldest unit (at José Cabrera nuclear power plant) was shut down at the end of 2006, 40 years after its construction.[5] In December 2012, the Garoña plant was also shut down.[6] In 2011, the government lifted the 40-year limit on all reactors, allowing owners to apply for license extensions in 10-year increments.[7]

  1. ^ "International Electricity Generation". U.S. Energy Information Administration, Dept. of Energy (DOE). Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  2. ^ "IAEA Concludes Long Term Operational Safety Review of Spain's Ascó Nuclear Power Plant". www.iaea.org. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Spain halts nuclear power". WISE News Communique. 24 May 1991. Retrieved 19 May 2006.
  4. ^ "Nuclear Europe: Country guide". BBC. 16 February 2006. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
  5. ^ The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2007 Archived 25 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine p. 29.
  6. ^ "Nuclear Power in Spain". www.world-nuclear.org. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  7. ^ "No limits for Spanish reactors". World Nuclear News. WNA. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.