MADRID, July 2 (Reuters) - Spain will announce at 1600 GMT on Thursday whether it will allow an ageing nuclear plant to stay open, the Prime Minister said, in its first test of an electoral pledge to phase out nuclear power.
The 500 megawatt Garona plant's operating permit expires on Sunday and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero suggested it will close after completing the 40-year lifespan it was originally designed for, which expires in 2011.
"We have no experience with plants more than 40 years' old," Zapatero told state radio, adding that Garona produced 50 percent more high-level waste than other Spanish plants.
"It has safety conditions, but it is an old plant, designed with decades-old technology and we have to very much bear that in mind when thinking of our country's future."
Spain's first nuclear plant -- Jose Cabrera -- was closed in 2006 and is being dismantled. Another nuclear power station was shut after a fire in 1989.
Zapatero's Socialists vowed in elections last year to gradually replace nuclear power with booming renewable energy sources, but did not say when.
Spain's seven other remaining nuclear plants will not turn 40 until at least 2020, although permits to operate six of them are up for renewal by 2011, or within the Socialists' mandate.
National grid operator REE told Reuters that closing Garona, which provides 1.4 percent of Spain's electricity, would pose no supply problems.
But REE added Spain was not yet ready to close all of its nuclear plants, which meet 20 percent of demand.
The nuclear regulator said last month in a non-binding report that Garona was safe to operate for another 10 years. The government then asked the Nuclear Safety Council to look into renewing the plant's permit for two, four or six years.
Jointly owned by Spain's two top electricity utilities, Iberdrola and Endesa, Garona's operators say they have invested 151 million euros ($213.1 million) in modernisation in the past decade, and that similar plants have received permission to run for 60 years in the United States.
Greenpeace blockaded the plant last November and called for its closure, saying it was obsolete and key components were suffering from suffering from stress corrosion cracking.
Spain is the world's third-biggest generator of wind power and the second of solar, after a drive to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and hefty dependence on imported fuel.
(Reporting by Martin Roberts)
((martin.roberts@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 585 2130; Reuters Messaging: martin.roberts1.reuters.com@reuters.net))
($1=.7087 Euro)
Keywords: SPAIN NUCLEAR/
* Decision to be announced at 1800 GMT
* PM suggests two-year permit extension
* Media reports say four years
* Plant 38 years old
(Adds radio report, paragraph 6)
MADRID, July 2 (Reuters) - Spain will announce at 1600 GMT on Thursday whether it will allow an ageing nuclear plant to stay open, the prime minister said, in the first test of an electoral pledge to phase out nuclear power.
The 500 megawatt Garona plant's operating permit expires on Sunday and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero suggested it will close after completing the 40-year lifespan it was originally designed for, which expires in 2011.
"We have no experience with plants more than 40 years old," Zapatero told state radio, adding that Garona produced 50 percent more high-level waste than other Spanish plants.
"It has safety conditions but it is an old plant, designed with decades-old technology, and we have to very much bear that in mind when thinking of our country's future."
Spain's first nuclear plant -- Jose Cabrera -- was closed in 2006 and is being dismantled. Another nuclear power station was shut after a fire in 1989.
Popular radio station La Ser later said the government would grant Garona a four-year extension, citing sources in Zapatero's Socialist party.
The Socialists vowed in elections last year to gradually replace nuclear power with renewable energy sources, which are booming in the country, but did not say when.
Spain's seven other remaining nuclear plants will not turn 40 until at least 2020, although permits to operate six of them are up for renewal by 2011, or within the Socialists' mandate.
National grid operator REE told Reuters that closing Garona, which provides 1.4 percent of Spain's electricity, would pose no supply problems.
But REE added Spain was not yet ready to close all of its nuclear plants, which meet 20 percent of demand.
The nuclear regulator said last month, in a non-binding report, that Garona was safe to operate for another 10 years. The government then asked the Nuclear Safety Council to look into renewing the plant's permit for two, four or six years.
The operators of Garona, which is jointly owned by Spain's two top electricity utilities Iberdrola and Endesa , say they have invested 151 million euros ($213.1 million) in modernisation in the past decade.
They also say similar plants have received permission to run for 60 years in the United States.
Greenpeace blockaded the plant last November and called for its closure, saying it was obsolete and key components were suffering from stress corrosion cracking.
Spain has become the world's third-biggest generator of wind power and the second of solar after it launched a drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions and hefty dependence on imported fuel.
(Reporting by Martin Roberts, editing by Anthony Barker) ($1=.7087 Euro) Keywords: SPAIN NUCLEAR/
(martin.roberts@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 585 2130; Reuters Messaging: martin.roberts1.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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