The nuclear programme in Spain - Success factors and present issues from an architect-engineer's point of view

During 1989, the 10 nuclear units in commercial operation in Spain, having a total capacity of 7,838 MWe, supplied over 38% of the electricity generated in the country. With the exception of one gas-graphite reactor, presently shut down due to a significant fire in the turbine-generator, the rest are light water reactors - 7 PRs and 2 BWRs. A further units have been granted construction permits but are currently under government imposed moratorium due to an excess in generation capacity; construction for two of them however - namely the Valdecaballeros BWRs - is likely to be resumed in the near future. Although the NSSS design is imported from basically two sources - USA and Germany, the last two nuclear power units connected to the grid in 1988 have reached over 85% in local participation. As for the plants in operation, their performance indicators compare favourable with international standards. From the perspective of an architect-engineering company, this paper describes some of the basic strategies and success factors of our nuclear programme and reviews some relevant issues presently being discussed or implemented by the nuclear industry in Spain. (author)