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RWE Innogy and a consortium will build a solar power plant called Andasol 3 in southern Spain, developed by Solar Millennium AG, the parties said in a statement on Friday Spain pushes ahead with renewables in quest to finish with nuclear power RWE Innogy and a consortium will build a solar power plant called Andasol 3 in southern Spain, developed by Solar Millennium AG, the parties said in a statement on Friday. It said that Stadwerke Munich, MAN Ferrostaal, RheinEnergie and Solar Millennium would form a consortium with RWE Innogy for the unit, which is planned to come on stream in 2011.

Spain's top energy official said on Monday the country had enough spare generating capacity to phase out nuclear power stations in the medium term, in line with government policy. In recent years, Spain has subsidized renewable energy in order to cut its heavy dependence on fuel imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is now the world's third-biggest producer of wind power and the second-biggest of solar. Nuclear power is unpopular in Spain and both major political parties ruled out building new plants in last year's elections. "Investing in nuclear energy makes sense when there are problems in ensuring supply. In '99 or 2000 that was the case with our energy margin," Energy Secretary Pedro Marin told a conference on energy policy.

Spain's top energy official said on Monday the country had enough spare generating capacity to phase out nuclear power stations in the medium term, in line with government policy. In recent years, Spain has subsidized renewable energy in order to cut its heavy dependence on fuel imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is now the world's third-biggest producer of wind power and the second-biggest of solar. Nuclear power is unpopular in Spain and both major political parties ruled out building new plants in last year's elections. "Investing in nuclear energy makes sense when there are problems in ensuring supply. In '99 or 2000 that was the case with our energy margin," Energy Secretary Pedro Marin told a conference on energy policy.

"Thousands have demonstrated in Asco, Tarragona, against a planned nuclear waste storage near the town, shouting slogans calling for the resignation of the municipalities' mayor, Rafael Vidal. The president of the Generalitat, Jose Montilla has announced that he opposes the candidacy of Asco to hold the nuclear waste graveyard. Citing that Catalunya generates more than 40 per cent of the nuclear energy that is produced in the whole of Spain, Montilla defended the "solidarity" between terroritories demanding that the site be located elsewhere in Spain."

Spain on Wednesday reaffirmed its policy of not commissioning new nuclear power plants a day after its biggest utility unveiled plans to build them in Britain, while repeating pledges to boost renewables and save energy. "There will be no new nuclear plants," Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian told journalists when asked to comment on Iberdrola's (IBE.MC) joint venture with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE.L) to build nuclear power stations.

The Spanish government has yet to decide when it will revive plans to find a site for storing spent nuclear fuel, Environment Minister Elena Espinosa said on Tuesday. Spain has for several years planned to build a facility to house high-level waste for 60 years. The country's nuclear power stations no longer have room to store much more than the 6,700 tonnes of spent fuel rods they have accumulated. "We have not discussed a date for this matter," Espinosa told journalists in response to questions on the planned Centralized Temporary Site, known as ATC in Spanish.

Spain's government said Thursday it would allow the country's oldest nuclear reactor to operate beyond its intended 40-year lifespan, reversing a policy of gradually phasing out nuclear power. Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said the Garona plant in northern Spain, which had been designed to function only until 2011 and whose operating permit expires on Sunday, would now be allowed to operate until July 2013. "This was not an easy decision but it is a thought-out decision," he told a news conference, adding the decision would allow for the preservation of jobs in the region at a time of high unemployment.

Five Member States Submit Candidates to Agency´s Board The IAEA´s 146 Member States were advised this week that five candidates have been nominated for Director General of the Agency. In a letter dated 28 April 2008, IAEA Board Chair Taous Feroukhi said she had received official nominations from the governments of Belgium, Japan, Slovenia, South Africa and Spain. The five nominated candidates are: Mr. Yukiya Amano of Japan; Mr. Luis Echávarri of Spain; Mr. Abdul Samad Minty of South Africa; Mr. Ernest Petrič of Slovenia; and Mr. Jean-Pol Poncelet of Belgium.

"A propaganda documentary made at the time on the United States operation which led to the accident has now been released Photos went round the world in 1966 of the then Spanish Minister for Tourism, Manuel Fraga, and the United States ambassador to Spain, Angier Biddle Duke, taking a dip off the coast of Palomares in Almería. It was a publicity shot taken with the intention of proving that the waters were safe after four atomic bombs fell in the area, two on land and two at sea, following a mid-air collision involving a B52 bomber and a tanker plane based at Morón de la Frontera in Cádiz during a mid-air refuelling operation. "

Police in Spain detained 30 Greenpeace activists Thursday who had blocked the entrance to the country's oldest nuclear power station which the environmental group is urging the government to close, the group said. Sixty protesters, wearing bright yellow raincoats, gathered outside the entrance Garona power plant, located some 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Madrid, just before dawn, according to Spanish television.

Madrid - For advocates of nuclear power in Spain, the recently discovered incident at the Asco I nuclear plant in the country's north-east could scarcely have come at a worse time. Just as global warming and rising oil prices were making nuclear energy seem more acceptable, the radioactive leak at the plant near the coastal city of Tarragona sparked new safety concerns. Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's anti-nuclear government had appeared to be swimming against the tide in the West, where countries such as Britain, Finland and the United States are increasingly relying on nuclear power.

International experts meeting in Spain say that further steps are needed to protect people from radioactive material that can end up at junk and scrap yards. One step is to harmonize the world´s regulatory approaches to radiation safety, based on IAEA safety standards already in place. Another step is to provide better guidance to regulators, scrap dealers, and metal recycling industries on how to deal with problems when they occur.

Thousands of people demonstrated in eastern France on Saturday to demand the closure of the country's oldest nuclear power plant amid a huge police presence. Organisers said more than 10,000 people, including from Spain, Italy and neighbouring Germany and Switzerland, rallied peacefully in Colmar while police said 3,500 took part in the protest against the Fessenheim nuclear plant. "This is a success and the question of the closure of Fessenheim has now been clearly put forward," said Denis Vernet, of the anti-nuclear umbrella group SDN, which organised the protest with the German movement Bund. A delegation handed a letter to the region's prefect Pierre-Andre Peyvel calling for the immediate closure of the plant.

Thousands of people demonstrated in eastern France on Saturday to demand the closure of the country's oldest nuclear power plant amid a huge police presence. Organisers said more than 10,000 people, including from Spain, Italy and neighbouring Germany and Switzerland, rallied peacefully in Colmar while police said 3,500 took part in the protest against the Fessenheim nuclear plant. "This is a success and the question of the closure of Fessenheim has now been clearly put forward," said Denis Vernet, of the anti-nuclear umbrella group SDN, which organised the protest with the German movement Bund. A delegation handed a letter to the region's prefect Pierre-Andre Peyvel calling for the immediate closure of the plant.

Spain's nuclear watchdog told plants on Wednesday that renewing their operating permits would depend on how they implemented tighter safety procedures spurred by a rash of unscheduled stoppages. Among others, the Nuclear Safety Council reviewed safety plans at the 1,000 megawatt Asco I plant, which faces a hefty fine after the regulator asked for government sanctions over the management's handling of a radioactive leak last November.

Spain's government said on Tuesday it would take firm action against a nuclear plant after the watchdog pressed for charges over its handling of a radioactive leak for which 2,600 people had to be screened. After a months-long investigation, the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) on Tuesday asked the government to sanction the Asco I plant on four charges of seriously breaching safety regulations arising from a leak in November.

The Vandelòs II plant saw its fire-detection systems activated. Asco II had a problem in the refrigeration system. Asco I had a problem in valve in a heat extractor. The Confrentes plant in Valencia saw an unplanned power surge.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's nuclear watchdog on Wednesday said it will formally request sanctions proceedings against a nuclear plant for improper handling of a radioactive leak that will require the screening of more than 2,600 people.

MADRID (AFP) - The Spanish government said Friday it would invest more than 19 billion euros in electricity and gas infrastructure over the next eight years. More than 9.2 billion euros will go on electricity infrastructure and 10.2 billion euros on transporting gas, the industry ministry said after a weekly cabinet meeting where the investment was agreed.