SNE News Update

The Spanish government has decided to launch a period for the presentation of candidate locations wishing to host Spain’s Centralised Temporary Storage facility.

The Centralised Temporary Storage facility is a facility designed to house spent fuel from nuclear power plants and the high-level waste produced in Spain (total material to be stored 12,816 m3) at a single location. The facility does not generate energy, nor does it produce any pollution.

The facility will be built above ground and will house these materials under dry conditions for a period of 60 years in a system of modular spaces. The processes required for the interim management of all the high-level radioactive waste will be centralised at this facility.

For more information about this visit:
www.enresa.es/actividades_y_proyectos

Three new issues of Nuclear España were published during the last quarter, entitled: Issue 300: Directory 2009, Legislation and Regulatory Bodies and The 35th Annual Meeting. They include articles about each edition’s front page topic, as well as interviews of important personalities and news about the nuclear sector. The October edition Issue 300: Directory 2009 included interviews with the first ever and current Presidents of the Publications Commission of SNE, Rogelio del Haro and José López respectively. There is also an article about the history of Nuclear España Magazine.

The Nuclear España Best Article Prize was awarded this year to a paper entitled Desarrollo normativo y nuevas prácticas reguladoras del CSN (Development of regulations and new regulatory practices at CSN), written by Isabel Mellado, from CSN. The runner-up prize was awarded to the paper entitled: La operación del sistema eléctrico español. Contribución de la generación nuclear (The operation of the Spanish electric system: the contribution of nuclear generation), written by Miguel de la Torre and Miguel R Duvison, from REE.

The Publications Commission also awarded, as was the case in previous years, an Honorific Mention to the magazine for its “distinguished technical quality and presentation.” This award was attributed to the monographic edition called CN Cofrentes.

The Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE) will hold its 36th Annual Meeting from 9 - 8 October 2010, in Santiago de Compostela. This annual coming together of the industry, companies and high representatives of the national and international nuclear and electric energy sector also provides an interesting excuse to get to know and enjoy the culture, landscape or gastronomy of the different Spanish regions. On this occasion the chosen city is Santiago de Compostela, where the delegates (around 500 are expected) and their companions, who together always total more than 200, will attend to the special celebrations held in the city on account of the Compostela Holy Year.

The Spanish nuclear power plants’ representatives will gather at the Winter Annual Session: Experiences and Perspectives; nuclear power plants in 2009 meeting. It will take place on 2 March 2010 at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Industrial Engineering School). On the agenda will be an analysis of developments in the nuclear energy scenario over the past year.

The fifteenth edition of the Nuclear MaxiMarathon will be held in Spain from 18 - 24 of September 2010. The marathon route will take the runners from Garoña NPP to Madrid, via Burgos.

When the marathon is finished the participants will deliver to the Industry Ministry a manifesto protesting against the government’s decision to close the Garoña NPP in 2013 - a decision that has not taken into account the report submitted by the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council, which recommended that the Garoña plant could continue operating for ten more years beyond its original 40-years lifetime until 2019, as requested by the operator, Nuclenor.

It is expected that around 400 runners from 25 countries will take part. More information and a registration form to take part in the marathon can be found at:
www.wonuc.org/atomsport/marathon/presentation.htm