The most pressing issue is the decision expected later this year by the Spanish government on whether to award a three-year reprieve to Almaraz nuclear power plant units 1 and 2. They are currently scheduled to be shut down in 2027 and 2028, respectively, as part of a 2019 agreement related to the phase-out policy.
Ugalde says that the three-year operating extension would allow time for consideration of whether there should be a more fundamental change to the phase-out plan. She notes that similar reactors in the USA are now licensed to operate for 80 years. The nuclear energy sector has “a lot of support from public opinion and from political parties”, she says, although it is up to the current government to decide.
She also talks about what impact last year’s blackout has had on the case for nuclear energy. She says: “If we want an energy transition in Spain that actually works, nuclear and renewables need to work together, with system stability always in mind.”
The world has changed a lot since 2019, with COVID-19 and then wars taking place in Ukraine and more recently Iran. Added to this there has been the development of artificial intelligence, with its predicted need for vast amounts of power in the future.
“The debate is becoming much more pragmatic because people are paying closer attention to things like stability, security of supply, and price. And nuclear is seen as part of the solution. And with public opinion, for example, we have a survey done by the Royal Elcano Institute which shows that from 2023 to 2025, the support for extending planned lifetimes changed from 43% in 2023 in favour to 66% in favour in 2025. So more or less two-thirds of respondents now think Spain’s existing nuclear plants should keep operating,” she said.
(Image: Foro Nuclear)
Ugalde, who took over her current role at Foro Nuclear in March, also talks about her background and work in the Spanish nuclear industry, and with World Association of Nuclear Operators.
Spain’s seven operating nuclear power reactors – Almaraz I and II, Ascó I and II, Cofrentes, Trillo and Vandellós II – generate about 20% of its electricity. Under the country’s nuclear phase-out plans, four reactors are scheduled to close by the end of 2030 – including the two Almaraz ones – while the remaining three reactors will shut by 2035.
The Almaraz plant currently supplies more than 7% of the electricity consumed in Spain, equivalent to 4 million homes, and employs about 4,000 people. Almaraz units I and II are pressurised water reactors with a net capacity of 1011 MWe and 1006 MWe, respectively. Unit I entered commercial operation in 1983 with unit II following the next year. The plant is owned by Iberdrola (53%), Endesa (36%), and Naturgy (11%).
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Episode credit: Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production
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