IAEA Sees Safety Commitment at Spain's Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant, Areas for Enhancement

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts said the operator of Spain's Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant demonstrated a commitment to the long-term safety of the plant and noted several good practices to share with the nuclear industry globally. The team also identified areas for further enhancement. The Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) today concluded an 18-day mission to Almaraz, whose two 1,050-MWe pressurized-water reactors started commercial operation in 1983 and 1984, respectively. Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo (CNAT) operates the plant, located about 200 km southwest of Madrid. OSART missions aim to improve operational safety by objectively assessing safety performance using the IAEA's safety standards and proposing recommendations for improvement where appropriate. Nuclear power generates more than 21 per cent of electricity in Spain, whose seven operating power reactors all began operation in the 1980s.The mission made a number of recommendations to improve operational safety, including: • The plant should implement further actions related to management, staff and contractors to enforce standards and expectations related to industrial safety. • The plant should take measures to reinforce and implement standards to enhance the performance of reactivity manipulations in a deliberate and carefully-controlled manner. • The plant should improve the support, training and documented guidance for Severe Accident Management Guideline users in order to mitigate complex severe accident scenarios. The team provided a draft report of the mission to the plant's management. The plant management and the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), which is responsible for nuclear safety oversight in Spain, will have the opportunity to make factual comments on the draft. These will be reviewed by the IAEA and the final report will be submitted to the Government of Spain within three months. The plant management said it would address the areas identified for enhancement and requested a follow-up OSART mission in about 18 months.