T - Tecnología para Investigaci&oacut;en y Desarrollo de..
C - Coseche del Calor residual y...
S - Conservación de la energía Secundaria, Y
E - Electricidad responsiva a la demanda , Y
N - Neutralización de los residuos tóxicos Nucleares en (España)
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Essentially, ENRESA is responsible for all radioactive residues in Spain, for which there is a national plan PGRR-6 approved by ministers of state and the Council for Nuclear safety described in this 2006 PDF document There is a invitation on page 14 for municipalities to host the proposed ATC
Ecologistas en acción seems to want to shut all nuclear reactors, preferably today, and they have been very successful at discouraging local municipalities and regions to resist the allure of cash incentives in return for hosting the ATC. They struck early, by persuading many councils and assemblies to make general 'anti-nuclear' policy decisions, and then followed up specific expressions of interest with vigourous local action. It has been relatively easy for them to arouse fear with language such as 'nuclear graveyard', 'Frankenstein science' and 'potential Chernobyl' which is likely to arouse a strong NIMBY (not in my back yard) response from any local community. So the ATC is now (2009) three years late, and no potential host community has emerged.
Meanwhile, stockpiles of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) accumulate in cooling ponds and interim stores (ATI) at the nuclear power plants where the fuel was used. Steel (even stainless steel) deteriorates in the presence of water and heat (SNF assemblies can reach 300ºC). The ATIs are dry stores, but the SNF assemblies are not encapsulated in secure, welded containers nor are they in stores designed specifically to resist assault by flood, fire, earthquake and terrorists for at least the next 100 years. IN 2006 French a 'double degree' student Benjamin Bouchout who studied under Professor Carlos Tapia at INSA (Lyon France) published an excelent independent review which is also saved on this site here
Whilst participants in this project tend to broadly agree that the current nuclear ractors in Spain are nearing the end of their useful life, the reality is that they do produce a substantial proportion of the national electricity supply, and current government policy is to resist building new nuclear facilities. Life extensions to existing facilities seem most probable. A number of pro-nuclear articles have been puvlished by independent newspapers (including the left leaning 'el Pais'suggesting that the Spanish Public may be being 'softened-up' (enticed/alured/beguiled) to facilitate some as yet unspecified new nuclear developments…
ATCSEN would like to help both the nuclear industry and the ecologists! Nuclear Fusion, which seems to be much more environmentally friendly is still some way into the future. Nuclear fission is here and now, and looks set to remain a while yet. Rather than build new nuclear stations, ATCSEN proposes to add renewable development to the nuclear research facility associated with the ATC.
The ATC has a 60 - 100 year projected lifetime. In 10 - 20 years, the existing nuclear facilities will be decommissioned, and hopefully fusion, or some other clean 'bulk electrical generation' technology will emerge. To fill the gap, we can use existing technology proven in Iceland and elswhere. We have assembled a PDF presentation
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April 2009