Depending on who you ask, nuclear energy is a thing of the past, with renewable energy being the only hope for reducing emissions and future needs, or key to the future, being a constant source of energy for millions of homes. Each country goes at a pace when it comes to nuclear power plants and, in the case of Spain, at the beginning of this year we learned of the plans to dismantle the plants in operation: between 2027 and 2035.
It will be the date on which we will stop producing nuclear energy, but in the United States they have an opposite strategy and, in fact, the North Anna plants, twins of the Spanish Ascó and Almaraz, have just extended their life until 2060.
twin power plants. When we talk about “twin nuclear power plants”, we must clarify that they are not identical in all aspects, but they do share the bases. The Almaraz plant is located in Cáceres and began operating in 1983. The Ascó plant is located in Tarragona and began its useful life in 1984. The North Anna plant began operating in 1978 and all of them were built in the early seventies. Therefore, they share security systems, components and infrastructure.
In addition, all three use pressurized water reactors, or PWRs, which are very common in power plants, but in this case they were manufactured by the American company Westinghouse.
In Spain they close. All of them have exceeded 40 years of life, but like Alfredo García, better known as Twitter.com/OperadorNuclear?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor”>’Nuclear Operator’ in X, shared with us a few years ago, the myth of 40 years in operation actually refers to the life of the design. That is, its useful life, which is the time during which the installation can operate safely and economically viable, can be much longer. What does “life of design” mean? Well, those 40 years are the estimated time to amortize the construction investment, but the plant could continue operating with safety and stability for more years.
However, we already know that in Spain they will close shortly after turning 40 years old to prioritize renewables and stop generating nuclear waste. The useful life of our plants, therefore, will be:
- Almaraz I and II – They will stop operating after 44 years of service.
- Cofrentes – Will stop operating at 46 years old.
- Ascó I and II – They will stop operating at 46 years old.
- Valdellós II and Trillo – They will stop operating at 47 years old.
In the United States, quite the opposite.. Let’s look at what just happened on the other side of the pond. Being, as we say, from the same time, in August of this year we learned that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave the go-ahead to extend the useful life of North Anna I and II until 2058 and 2060, respectively. Therefore, they will complete 80 years of service and the NRC is evaluating seven other cases to extend, or not, nuclear service.
They are not the same plants that opened in the eighties, since the main generators and capacitors of the reactors have been replaced, the cooling pumps have been renewed and the control systems have been changed from the original analog ones to new digital controls, among other improvements here and there and the modernization of security systems.
USA takes a run. In fact, North Anna’s case is not isolated. Although the country is betting very heavily on renewables—with California being a powerhouse and traditionally oil-producing states like Texas also looking favorably on clean energy—they need a lot, a lot of power. The reason? Artificial intelligence, whose use is increasing and requires a lot of energy.
That is why the owners of nuclear power plants are soaring in the stock market, and the country is not only transforming its coal plants into nuclear power plants, but is also considering reopening closed plants. As we read in Foro Nuclear, of the 94 reactors in the country, 81 have already been granted authorization to increase their operating time.
Alternatives? Returning to Spain, the country is betting very heavily on renewables. There are large projects in different parts of the country, both wind and solar energy. The hydrogen corridor is also underway and, near Ascó, the construction of the largest hydroelectric plant in Spain is planned. This is still in the consultation phase until October 23, but a useful life of 50 years is detailed in the document
China continues its roll. But… what are other countries doing? France continues to believe in nuclear energy, something that Italy has also demonstrated with recent statements by the current government. Germany is on the opposite side: it has bet heavily on renewables and in recent months they have maintained their idea of closing nuclear power plants. And China, which has 56 reactors in operation, is clear that the future is renewables, but they also need nuclear ones with fourth-generation reactors.
In any case, it is clear that each country has a different rhythm, but it is still curious that power plants in the United States that are very similar to two of the Spanish ones are going to operate almost 30 years longer than them.
Images | Stuartmj, Frobles
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