Spain’s national radioactive waste company Enresa has completed the dismantling of the dome of the containment building at the José Cabrera nuclear plant, in Almonacid de Zorita (Guadalajara).
The work, which took about two months and was on schedule, involved the plasma cutting of 297 components requiring the use of two large cranes to make possible the safe execution of the task from an auxiliary platform.
The dome weighed 225.2 tons with a diameter of 31.4m, and most of the segmented pieces were 16mm thick.
Enresa said work would continue in 2020 with the demolition of the interior of the containment building, the auxiliary building, the electrical building (which housed the control room), the waste warehouses 1 and 2, as well as the administration building.
Since Enresa temporarily assumed ownership of the José Cabrera, also known as Zorita, and began dismantling work in February 2010 some 32,500 tons of materials have been processed.
Zorita, which began operating in 1968, was the first nuclear power plant in Spain, operating until April 2006. It is also the first Spanish NPP to be dismantled.
Photo: Spain's José Cabrera nuclear plant before and after the dome was removed (Credit: Enresa)
