Nuclear companies are responding to the government’s latest “misconception” and warning of “serious disorder” in the electricity sector.
Spain’s nuclear employers’ association Foro Nuclear took advantage of the presentation of the power plants’ 2023 performance results to respond to some of the headlines that have appeared over the past few months against the industry, during which it decided to confront the Government over the announced increase in the Enresa rate they pay annually for treatment with nuclear waste.
Having agreed to the increase in 2019, the ministry led by Teresa Ribera backed down this year with a decree that increased the rate from the current 8 euros to 11 euros per MW and which they withdrew, stressed Foro Nuclear President Ignacio Araluche. for “form defect”. The new proposal reduces the increase somewhat, but opposition from the sector remains frontal and we will “see” what happens with its scheduled entry into force on July 1st.
The government justified the increase, among other things, with the “polluter pays” mantra, which the sector has not swallowed, contradicting some of the most common claims made against nuclear power. Regarding nuclear waste and the bill on it, Araluche emphasized that “we are practically the only sector that complies with this axiom” and noted that “every year they invest a huge amount of money” (450 million euros) in a fund that will ultimately there will be a price to pay for the future of the final storage and dismantling of nuclear weapons. “The ‘waste’ solution,” he insisted,It comes from the state, but the funding comes from us.“, emphasized Araluse, who confirmed the companies’ rejection of changes in the manager’s plans with waste, hinting at the retirement of the Villar de Cañas warehouse and the construction in its place of one warehouse per plant until the latter arrives in the seventies of this century.
A spokesman for the companies said they didn’t like the new strategy and stressed that it would cost more than two billion more and they now had to foot the bill: “We could go so far“Araluche insisted, also complaining about the “nonsense” the CEO is spouting that companies “don’t want to pay for waste”: “We pay for a hundred percent, but we don’t want it because you change the plan, so do I.” paid. No, you pay this part.“, he said. The sector appealed the Seventh Radioactive Waste Management Master Plan, which includes the postponement of the ATC, to the contentious administrative chamber of the Supreme Court.
Araluch also took the opportunity to offer his version of another phrase that has been heard about nuclear power in the past few weeks, as some reactors have been forced to shut down due to the collapse in prices. “The myth that nuclear energy is cheap has been dispelled.“Recently, Minister Teresa Ribera said that some factories have been asked to cut production because “the bills are not working” in a scenario in which prices occasionally fall to zero.
The Foro Nuclear president referred to the “serious mess” that “we are participating in,” referring to the “huge overproduction” of renewable energy that “we are experiencing these days” while demand is not increasing. In this regard, he noted that one of the solutions to this situation – storage solutions – is “extremely delayed”: “There are no batteries and are not expected.” In a situation of “huge instability” due to “electrical supergeneration”, at certain moments nuclear power plants chose to stop or reduce production.
Competition and taxes
At this moment Araluch defended it nuclear energy remains ‘cost competitive’: “It is a mistake to say that we are not competitive and we had to stop. “I want to refute this mantra of lack of competitiveness,” he said, recalling an old demand from the tax sector: “If they impose these taxes on me, I cannot compete: that is a common truth.”
“In Spain, nuclear technology is heavily penalized by the tax system. If not for this, competitiveness would be much higher,” he insisted, saying that “75 percent of our variable costs are taxes,” and noting that the tax burden and Enresa tariff amount to 26 euros per megawatt. Regarding the zero-price panorama, he pointed out that in the case of nuclear “almost all products are soldRegarding shutdowns or blackouts, he noted that the technical characteristics of Spanish power plants do not make power changes “desirable” due to their impact on fuel. but maybe he emphasized that a reduction of up to 70 percent does not require touching any plant system.