Environmental organizations emphasized that the CSN must accommodate the request under the Convention of Aarhus and the European Nuclear Safety Directive , which establishes the right to information and participation of citizens in processes such as Garoña. Self-Article 45 of the Statute of CSN allows to the Advisory Committee to seek the necessary information to improve transparency and encourage nuclear agency access to information and public participation.
“As members of the Advisory Committee CSN demand a special meeting to ensure transparency in the process of reopening Garoña "noted Francisco Castejón, Ecologists in Action.”The Advisory Committee is to guide the CSN key role in communication tasks and transparency, and what better occasion than the study of the requirements Garoña, which generates a huge social expectation to act, "he said.
The application of Endesa and Iberdrola to extend the life of Garoña until March 2, 2031 granting the nuclear mean 20 more years of life to a plant designed for commercial exploitation of 40, accomplished in 2011. Environmental organizations remember that the decision to reopen imply an extension of the activities that can have serious effects on the environment. Therefore, Ecologists in Action and Greenpeace have asked the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Environment information relating to public inquiry and a process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the possible extension of the life cycle Garona.
The EIA should consider the transboundary context according to the Espoo Convention, since the decision would mean a substantial change in the initial draft of the nuclear, with potentially serious effects on the environment also outside the Spanish borders. Add to that the fact that the members of this Convention agreed in June that all nuclear power plants in Europe must be aged under environmental impact assessment of license renewal or periodic safety review adds.
“The process of Environmental Impact Assessment requires, among other things, comparing alternatives. Garoña cannot demonstrate that this alternative is cleaner, safer and cheaper than renewable energy," concluded Rachel Stack, head of the anti-nuclear campaign of Greenpeace .
