Spain will not close oldest nuclear plant - reports

Jul 2, 2009, 12:24 GMT

Madrid - The Spanish government will allow the country's oldest nuclear power plant to operate at least until 2013, despite an initial pledge to close it by 2011, radio reports said Thursday.

Cadena Ser and Spanish National Radio quoted government and regional sources.

The government was due to announce its decision in the evening.

The 466 megawatt Garona nuclear plant near Burgos in the north produces only 1.4 per cent of Spain's energy, but it had become a symbol for environmentalists demanding its closure.

Defenders of the plant, however, argued that Spain needed nuclear power in addition to the rapidly growing renewable energies.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialist government earlier announced plans to phase out nuclear plants as their life spans expired, and the original 40-year life span that Garona was designed for ends in 2011.

The nuclear security watchdog CSN recommended that Garona continue operating for another decade, on the condition that it is modernized and its security is upgraded.

Zapatero said the government had taken a 'reasonable and balanced' decision that would come under criticism from several quarters.

The environmental group Greenpeace threatened legal action if the government did not close Garona.