14 DAY TRIAL // Greenpeace (GP) activists protested on Thursday in front of the Garona nuclear power plant, in Spain, chaining themselves to the entrance gate. The environmental organization is trying to get the newly-elected Socialist government to deny the renewed permit request the plant put forward. The facility is old, GP representatives say, and it poses a huge security risk for the environment. Between 2009 and 2011, around 7 such plants will come under the scope, as they reach their discarding age. Authorities arrested 30 volunteers, while 8 others remained in a container outside the perimeter.
Protesters say that Spain has the capacity to replace Garon's 500 MW output with electricity generated from renewable sources, as the nation currently undergoes a notable boom in this sector. An official Greenpeace communicate warned Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the newly-elected Prime Minister, not to "make a big mistake if he decides to turn his back on the anti-nuclear majority."
The aging of nuclear power plants is a serious deal, as the life of such a facility is established even before it's constructed. Garona was designed for 40 years of operations, which end in 2011, meaning that the management has to ask the government for a special permit, in order for the power plant to continue working legally. Spain relies on nuclear energy for approximately 20 percent of its electricity, so the issue is pretty complex.
However, the Socialist government recently won the elections with a platform featuring the reduction of the number of power plants powered by nuclear energy, so environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, as well as concerned citizens, hope to see the end of the seven facilities by 2011.
Renewable energy is a real possibility in Spain, seeing how its wind farms could easily produce twice as much electricity as its nuclear power plants. The only obstacle in the way of massive production is the fact that the wind doesn't blow steadily, which translates into the fact that they actually produce half of the electricity they were designed to.
Amidst concerns about the levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) it placed in the air, the Spanish government attempted to create a renewable energy power grid, thus allowing this industry to undergo a real boom over the last years. Currently, the nation is the world’s third largest wind-generated electricity producer.