by Teresa Parejo Navajas, Professor of Law, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain).<\/p>\n
Santa Mar\u00eda de Garo\u00f1a (Burgos), the oldest and smallest nuclear plant in Spain, will end its activity on July 2013. Even though it has been highly profitable, in 2011 it generated 1.3% of the total country\u2019s electricity, a quantity that, at the present, is completely dispensable. The drop of the electric demand due to the financial and economic crisis as well as to the gas and renewable stations under construction, has led Spain to an excess of installed capacity. In fact, in 2011, the Spanish installed power, with 103,625 megawatts, more than doubled the peak demand of 44,107 megawatts.<\/p>\n
The plant of Garo\u00f1a, that started its activity in 1971, could only continue its operation until the 6th<\/sup> of July 2013 due to a Ministerial Order established by the previous Government. However, the current Spanish Administration, with the support of Nucleor, the concession-holder company and of the Nuclear Security Council (conditioned upon the compliance of some improvements), wanted to prolong the plant\u2019s life till 2019, keep the jobs, and helping assure the security of energy supply and the energy independence of Spain.<\/p>\n