Nuclear energy in Portugal is very limited and strictly non-commercial. Portugal has one 1MW research reactor located in the National Nuclear Research Centre at Sacavém, which is in permanent shutdown state. Further nuclear energy activities are not planned in the near future. Other nuclear activities include medical applications such as radiology, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine, as well as use of industrial radioactive sources.
In 1971, Portugal planned to build an 8,000 MW nuclear power plant to be completed by 2000. Plans were delayed until 1995 when it was decided to not proceed with the project.[1] In 2004, the Government of Portugal rejected a proposal to reconsider its decision.[2] After the Carnation Revolution, a military coup in April 1974 which overthrew the Estado Novo regime, projects for the construction of nuclear power plants have since been postponed or dismissed by the government.[3][4]
Presently Portugal has no spent fuel. In September 2007, the core of the Portuguese Research Reactor (RPI) was converted from high enriched to low enriched fuel, all enriched uranium as well as all spent fuel has been shipped to the United States in the framework of the “United States Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance Program”. Liquid effluents produced in the RPI, as well as effluents of medical applications are stored locally, and later discharged in accordance with national law. Solid radioactive waste and discarded sealed sources are centrally stored in the national intermediate radioactive waste storage.