The Almaraz nuclear plant, 100 or so kilometres upriver from the Portuguese border near Portalegre, finally has a definitive closing date of 2028, reports news service, Cinco Días.
The Spanish plant, located 320 kilometres from Lisbon and 160 kilometres from Portalegre, has two nuclear reactors, the first of which will be dismantled in 2027, the second in 2028.
The Spanish Government and the country’s various electricity companies already have a schedule for dismantling five nuclear reactors at three sites, following an agreement reached on 28 January.
Endesa, Iberdrola and Naturgy agreed to a phased closure programme with Spain's Ecological Transition Minister, Teresa Ribera.
Almaraz, active since 1983, will be the first to close. Next will be Ascó I, in 2029, and Ascó II, in 2030, and of Cofrentes, in 2033.
According to an earlier plan announced by the Spanish Government last November, the Almaraz nuclear power plant was to be closed in September 2023 and Almaraz II in July 2024.
The delay is regrettable but Portuguese environmentalists will be pleased that at last something is happening finnaly to stop the ever-present threat of radioactive leakage into the Tagus from the reactors and from the spent fuel dump at Almaraz.