Castelo Branco, Portugal, Sept. 13, 2024 (Lusa) - Portuguese environmental association Quercus on Friday called for a definitive solution to be found for nuclear waste from the power station at Almaraz, just over the border in Spain, asking the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) to issue a written opinion to this effect.

In a statement sent to the Lusa news agency, Quercus explains that it took part in the public consultation on the Spanish plant's new Individualised Temporary Storage (ATI-100) - an intermediate step in Spain's 7th Radioactive Waste Plan - and presented alternative suggestions to the proposal made by the company that runs the plant, Empresa de Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo (CNAT).

"We are in favour of the Portuguese Environment Agency issuing an opinion requesting a definitive alternative for nuclear waste," the Quercus statement reads.

According to the project, it not until 2073 will a definitive destination for the waste be found, in the form of Deep Geological Storage (DGS).

"We believe that an alternative to what is proposed [ATI-100] is needed," Quercus said. "It is necessary to speed up the availability of the AGP, setting in motion as soon as possible the complex political, social and technical process that will lead to a less harmful solution, since the problem of high-level radioactive waste cannot be tackled without risk or harm."

With regard to what is being analysed at the moment, the environmentalist group stresses that "situations such as the possible installation of a Decentralised Temporary Warehouse (DTS) should be considered from the outset and that the installation of the ATI-100 could not compromise the DTS.

"Shouldn't there therefore be a subsequent independent Environmental Impact Study as indicated in the document now under discussion?" it queries.

Quercus also added that the document being analysed "does not take into account the possibility of a serious or catastrophic accident" - a risk that it believes "should be taken into account" by those overseeing the project.

"The waste management plan shows that nuclear energy is expensive, dirty and dangerous," the statement says. "We have been fighting for many years with the Iberian Anti-nuclear Movement (MIA) for the closure of the Almaraz nuclear power station, which is a danger to Spain and also to Portugal."

In August, the APA announced the public consultation ow underway until the end of this month for the construction of a new storage facility for the Almaraz nuclear power plant, for highly radioactive waste.

Quercus and other environmentalist groups argue that the best way to manage nuclear waste is not to generate it at all, which is why they advocate the closure of all nuclear power stations.

The Almaraz plant is located next to the River Tagus in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, just 110 kilometres as the crow flies over the border from the Portuguese districts of Castelo Branco and Portalegre, in a seismic risk zone. Vila Velha de Ródão is the first town downstream on the Tagus from where it enters Portugal.

In operation since 1981, and operating commercially since 1983.

Spain's government renewed the operating licences for generator groups I and II of the Almaraz plant in July 2020, extending them until 1 November 2027 and 31 October 2028 respectively.

In June of this year, Spain's state-owned Enresa, which is responsible for radioactive waste management, announced the start of the tendering process for engineering services to dismantle the Almaraz plant.

The owners of the plant are the quoted Spanish companies Iberdrola (53%), Endesa (36%) and Naturgy (11%).

CCC/ARO // ARO.

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