A group of Cohort 11 graduates recently attended the Nuclear Institute Spain Trip, along with other delegates from the nuclear industry. The trip was organised by the Nuclear Institute in collaboration with Enresa, a public, non-profit organisation which was created by the Spanish Parliament to manage the country’s radioactive waste.
The graduates had the chance to soak up the sights and sounds of Seville and Córdoba, two historic cities in southern Spain, before meeting up with the rest of the group and heading through the beautiful Sierra de Hornachuelos Natural Park to El Cabril.
El Cabril is the Spanish disposal facility for Very Low, Low, and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste. Here, the graduates were treated to a technical presentation outlining the history and future of El Cabril followed by a tour of the site. It was fascinating to see Spain’s approach to the disposal of radioactive waste and the progress they have made and compare it to our own work back here in the UK.
The next day the graduates visited the José Cabrera Nuclear Power Plant, a largely decommissioned PWR located 120 km from Madrid. It was shut down in 2006 and Enresa assumed full responsibility for the decommissioning project in 2010. Again, the graduates were treated to a technical presentation and site tour, which included watching a video projected onto the interior of the reactor building dome! This was an excellent chance to get up close and personal with an ongoing Dismantling and Decommissioning project (and also provided a great photo opportunity – a must for any nucleargraduates trip!).
Overall, the week was very well organised and offered some incredible opportunities for the graduates to experience the nuclear industry in Spain. Further information on the two sites visited can be found on www.enresa.es/eng
