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Spain Sends Almaraz Extension Request to Nuclear Regulator, Triggering Formal Review

The binding safety assessment now underway could reset the 2019 shutdown timetable by testing whether an extension can meet strict safeguards without raising consumer or taxpayer costs.

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Archivo - Vista de la central nuclear de Almaraz (Cáceres).
Instalaciones de la Central Nuclear de Vandellós (Tarragona).

Overview

  • The Ministry for the Ecological Transition has forwarded Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy’s bid to run Almaraz until June 2030 to the Nuclear Safety Council for evaluation.
  • The CSN must deliver a binding report no later than two months before licence expiry—effectively by September 1, 2027—after which a ministerial order and a public hearing would follow if the process advances.
  • The regulator will keep processing the legally required closure dossier in parallel, after the government declined utilities’ request to pause that track.
  • The owners filed the extension without seeking central tax concessions, while Extremadura pledged to halve its regional ecotax, and ministers reiterated red lines on full safety compliance and no added cost to bill payers.
  • Catalonia’s operator ANAV says Ascó and Vandellòs are technically ready for longer operation and is weighing similar requests as companies target a government decision by March 2026 to secure fuel, staffing and safety preparations.