The dispute to win the insurance policy contract for the dismantling of the Santa María de Garoña nuclear power plant could not be closer. Mapfre and Allianz are the only bidders and they are tied.
The estimated value of the contract, which is being tendered by the National Radioactive Waste Company (Enresa), is 621,625 euros and both have offered the same amount, 597,336.74 euros, which is 4% below and achieving the same score of 100 , as can be seen from the tender file hosted on the public procurement platform consulted by La Información.
Specifically, the two insurers have offered 464,878.63 euros for nuclear civil liability insurance, while the amount corresponding to the individualized temporary storage (ATI) of spent fuel is 67,126.22 euros. For its part, the amount allocated to non-contractual civil liability insurance is 65,331.89 euros.
From March 1 to December 31, 2024
The purpose of the contract is to subscribe to the insurance policy that covers from March 1 to December 31, 2024 – it is renewed annually -, both inclusive. The specifications detail that radioactive facilities that do not require specific administrative authorization and that are located in the same location as the reactor itself will also fall under the policy. In addition, facilities for the spent fuel ATI are considered included.
For the purposes of non-contractual civil liability, those facilities, both owned and leased, existing or newly built, that are necessary for the policyholder to carry out the work of the activity will also be considered as members of the nuclear installation covered by the insurance. . ity assured. The policy must thus cover both the dismantling of the plant and all the work necessary to carry out its closure.
The list of activities related to the closure includes the reception of containers and shielding modules, the loading of spent fuel in containers, electrical modifications and radioactive waste management, among others. Before formalizing the contract, Enresa has the obligation to provide a list of the contractors and subcontractors that will carry out activities at the plant, since they will be considered as insured in the non-contractual civil liability section during the term of the policy. . .
In addition, Enresa must communicate before the issuance of the policy the quantity of spent fuel elements stored in the facilities for the Temporary Dry Storage of Spent Fuel. Currently, the amount of fuel stored in the Garoña ATI is in the first section, that is, below 50,000 kg. However, taking into account the load plan being handled, it is expected that during the term of the contract it will be moved to the second one.
Maximum 350 million civil liability for damages
The civil liability for nuclear damage to the Santa María de Garoña plant is a maximum of 350 million euros, according to the resolution establishing said amount issued by the General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines of the Ministry for Transition. n Ecology. For its part, the responsibilities assumed by the insurer for the guarantees of non-contractual civil liability will not exceed, in any case, six million euros, while the sublimit of compensation per victim with regard to personal injuries will be 400,000 euros.
For its part, in each guaranteed incident that corresponds to material damage, Enresa will bear, as a deductible, the amount of 15,000 euros, which will be deducted from the total amount of compensation. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition authorized the start of the dismantling of the Santa María de Garoña nuclear power plant in July and the process will continue until 2033, with a budget of 475 million euros – without taking into account the management of spent fuel. Specifically, the project – reported favorably in May by the Nuclear Safety Council – consists of two phases, in which up to 350 people are expected to work.
The plant was inaugurated in 1971.
Garoña had an installed capacity of 466 MW and was inaugurated in 1971. The plant was disconnected from the electrical grid in December 2012, when Nuclenor (a company formed by Iberdrola and Endesa) informed the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism of its decision not to continue exploiting it. In July 2013, the definitive cessation of exploitation was declared, but this was not due to reasons of nuclear safety or radiological protection, so Nuclenor submitted a request to renew the authorization in May of the following year. Finally, in August 2017, the request was denied by the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda. At that time Enresa began the preparatory work for the dismantling and designed the dismantling project.
The Government is yet to approve the Seventh General Radioactive Waste Plan (PGRR), which provides for the construction of seven decentralized storage tanks (Atd) in Las Las Las Nuclear Power Plants for the Management of Spent Fuel and High Activity Waste, until its completion. Transfer to definitive storage to a Deep Geological Storage (AGP) that would come into operation in 2073.
Currently, part of the spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste are managed in the ATI located on the site of the nuclear power plants and the PGRR proposes the creation or adaptation of these facilities in ATD, always with a prior licensing process. . that the owner must request at the time before the corresponding competent authority, which will have to be mandatory informed by the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) in accordance with current regulations.
The CSN issued the mandatory favorable report corresponding to the new plan at the end of 2022, at the request of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. It must be remembered that the reports are not binding and that the plan still has to be approved by the Council of Ministers. It was expected to receive the green light this summer, but the early elections changed everything. Once the plan is approved, Enresa, as responsible for the management of radioactive waste, must implement the strategies defined therein, to dismantle the facilities and the subsequent management of the waste. This new legal system on nuclear waste will replace the 2006 one, which expired since 2010, and which the Executive is obliged to update in order not to be penalized by the European Commission.
The expansion of the El Cabril storage center in Córdoba is also pending, although authorization from the department headed by Teresa Ribera is not expected until 2024. According to Enresa, the new Southeast Platform, for which authorization is requested, will have 27 cells. In the first phase, which is estimated to be operational in 2028, 12 cells will be built, while the remaining 15 will be built according to the needs of the center itself. The expansion will allow the center to continue adapting its capacities to its mission of waste from the dismantling of all nuclear power plants, in addition to that originating from hospitals, laboratories and industries, according to the public company.
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