If only this title at the top of the text were a certainty, but for the moment it is only a wish, a request that we hope will lead to reflection. We have been left absolutely alone on the path to nuclear switch-off. We are the only country in the European Union, and in the world, with nuclear power stations in operation that insists on shutting them down. We are going in the opposite direction to everyone and everything, and that is why we are calling for a change of direction, a firm and urgent change in Spanish energy policy. We will not tire of repeating it: the nuclear power plants in our country are capable and in perfect condition to continue operating and their closure is a political decision that must be reversed in this area. This is the feeling of the Spanish nuclear professionals, but it is not a question of responding to an empty claim, it is a question of leaving ideological criteria behind and looking at what the world is doing in relation to nuclear energy.
One of the clear commitments of the recently published report ‘The Future of European Competitiveness, known as the Draghi Report, is to develop and maintain countries’ nuclear capacity. This is one of the 22 key measures to reduce energy costs, guaranteeing the sustainability of supply and accelerating decarbonisation. It is also a reality that nuclear power plants have for some time now been positioning themselves as a strategic resource for large consumers such as data centres. Just a few weeks ago, Microsoft announced an agreement to resume operation of Group 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to meet its growing energy demand while keeping the company’s carbon emissions low. Google has reached an agreement with Kairos Power to build small modular nuclear reactors by 2030, adding 500 MWe to supply its data centres with greenhouse gas-free electricity. Another important message comes from the world’s banking industry, with fourteen of the world’s largest financial companies announcing that they will extend their support to nuclear projects being developed around the world. This is yet another result of the agreement signed by 33 countries at COP28 in Dubai to triple nuclear power as a necessary measure to achieve decarbonisation. A few weeks ago, the new French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, in his speech at the National Assembly in Paris, also reaffirmed the country’s will to continue investing in nuclear energy with the construction of new reactors. And this is the mainstream. The world is talking about new projects and countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, etc. have changed their position and are now committed to the continuity of their plants or the start-up of new projects. This is the new global energy strategy. Nuclear power appears in the vast majority of plans for the future. Spain has become a redoubt in which technical criteria are politically undervalued and we continue to move in the opposite direction and at full speed towards nuclear closure.
Spain has been left completely alone. Look outwards, let us abandon this absurd race towards the closure of power plants. We have power plants in perfect conditions to continue operating and nuclear is a resilient energy, complementary to renewables in its development and implementation. Society in general, the citizens, are concerned about climate issues, about energy costs, and about the future we are going to leave to the next generations, and that is why we are calling on whoever is responsible, and we will not stop doing so while we have the margin to do so, for a technical and not a political reflection on what our energy policy should be. We want the energy from Almaraz I and II, Ascó I and II, Cofrentes, Vandellós II and Trillo to continue to be our energy and that of our children because it is safe, clean, reliable and competitive. If we shut down the seven nuclear reactors that remain in operation in Spain, we will lose a lot: green, sustainable and affordable energy, a high level of technological know-how, the development of our own technology, an industry that adds value to the GDP and has international projection, quality jobs, and we will leave, in exchange, a vacuum that will be difficult to recover.
