Spanish utility Nuclenor, operator of the single-unit Santa Maria de Garoña nuclear station in northern Spain, has awarded a contract to Spanish engineering firm Tecnatom to manage the onsite preconditioning and reprocessing plant for radioactive wastes from evaporator concentrates. Tecnatom did not say how much the contract was worth. The facility is used to recondition drums of low-level and intermediate-level waste before their final disposal at the El Cabril repository in Córdoba province, southern Spain. Tecnatom said the project is being carried out in collaboration with Madrid-based Nusim, which specialises in the design and supply of automatic systems for the treatment of radioactive waste. The Garoña plant began commercial operation in 1971 and was officially shut down in July 2013. Nuclenor had sought a 10-year operating extension, which was supported by Spain’s Nuclear Safety Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, CSN) despite Spain’s policy of phasing out nuclear power. In July 2009, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade compromised, extending the operating licence for an additional four years subject to safety upgrades, but the extension was never used.
