The Royal Spanish Academy of the Language defines error as “an unwise or mistaken action” and to dispense with nuclear energy as of today, for a country, is a mistaken decision, a strategic and unjustifiable error that, surely, can be argued, but that can hardly be defended.
Spain has seven nuclear reactors in operation: Almaraz I and Almaraz II, Ascó I and Ascó II, Cofrentes, Vandellós II and Trillo. Last year, with an installed capacity representing 5.0% of the available, the seven plants contributed 19.7% of the total generated in the peninsular electricity system. Their load factor was over 83% and they delivered 51.8 net TWh to the grid, representing 25% of the total electricity generated in Spain free of emissions. Real and reliable data to contribute to the debate and which can also be supported by other intrinsic values of nuclear energy such as its capacity to be base generation, to provide control and stability to the grid, or to be able to defend costs less dependent on circumstantial geopolitical effects.
Spain has seven reactors that are operating and that are in perfect condition to continue doing so (let's not lose sight that it is a strictly regulated and supervised sector to ensure this) so the strategic error, the harshness of the mistake they want us to commit is to do without this resource. We are talking about destroying a real, available resource, that works and that continues to be a necessity for our electrical system without anyone having truly told us yet what we are going to gain as a society with this decision.
We are not going to be the first to commit this error. Germany closed its last reactor in 2023 and recently federal chancellor Friedrich Merz recognized that they are not capable of reversing this decision and called it a “serious strategic error.” It is not just a political statement, it is a reality translatable into data on energy costs, degradation of the economy and increase in the level of emissions, which should be red flags in political decision-making in Spain. Learning from the German “strategic error” should lead us to a different path than the one they seem to want to force us to travel.
Nuclear energy accounts for 25% of the total electricity generated in Spain free of greenhouse gas emissions
We want to think that someone is clear on how this decision, which increasingly has more voices against it, is going to benefit us. What we do know is how it is going to harm us. We will lose quality jobs, wealth in areas of what is defined as “emptied Spain”, business fabric, generation capacity that no, will not be replaced by renewable energy (it is complementary generation capacity). They should not try to place us in a discourse of hate, of opposition of one energy against the other. Nuclear and renewables is a tandem that makes us strong as a country, that gives us an independence more necessary today than ever.
Perhaps we are not in the position to talk about building new reactors (we will hardly ever be in it without a stable regulatory framework that guarantees the strong investments required for it) but we are in the position to save what we have, in not doing without a certainty and a valid, real and tangible resource such as nuclear energy in Spain.
We have been hearing voices for many months that demand decision-making in this regard but perhaps, due to their relevance in Europe, we highlight those of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen who, after also speaking of “strategic error”, has suggested that perhaps the best option is to delay the closure of nuclear power plants and spoke of “avoiding the premature retirement of assets, such as existing nuclear facilities, which can provide reliable, low-cost and low-emission electricity”.
Von der Leyen has doubly experienced that “strategic error” that mistaken decision that her country, Germany, first took, and that she now recognizes with this 180-degree turn in the European Union's positioning regarding Europe's nuclear capacity to face a complex context in which the impact of the increase in gas and oil prices has already begun to be felt.
We are talking about destroying a real, available resource that works and that continues to be a necessity for our electrical system without anyone having yet told us, truly, what we are going to gain as a society with this decision.
Decision-making, without a doubt, is never simple and is based on the analysis of a complex web of circumstances and conditions. It is not about questioning the one that was made in 2019, when the current closing calendar was agreed upon, but about accepting that circumstances are radically different and that what in 2019 could be an option, in 2026 is a mistake that we should not commit.
Society must demand from the owners and operators of nuclear power plants exquisite work, safe operation, adequate management of their waste, high qualification and preparation of their professionals and, of course, the necessary level of investment for these facilities to operate safely and reliably. Here the level of demand and responsibility must be high, very high and must provide that much-needed confidence in a sector that, let's not forget, has been in Spain for more than 50 years and has a very consolidated structure.
The seven Spanish reactors are in perfect condition both in technical and human teams to continue operating, let's not do without them, let's not discard such a valuable and certain resource in these times of uncertainty.
about the signatory:
Paulo Domingues Santos is president of the Spanish Nuclear Society