Japan is in a critical situation as a result of the earthquake and nuclear disaster that occurred on 11 March. This has led to a debate on the state of nuclear energy in the Basque Country and around the world. Before this happened, the Spanish government was considering the possibility of extending the life of the nuclear power plants – among them the one in Garoña, the nearest nuclear power plant to the Basque Country – and it assumed that nuclear energy was necessary to guarantee an energy future. The nuclear disaster in Japan has dashed those hopes and, even for a moment, the debate has been abandoned. Large industrial and financial groups, on the other hand, are still there; in fact, they have the support of their lobbies and media resources. When the climate calms, which is now in full swing, they will hold the debate again and press for us to continue using nuclear energy in the world, and for us to use it more.

Given this context, what is the situation of nuclear energy in the Basque Country and the world? There are currently 442 nuclear reactors in operation and 65 reactors under construction in various parts of the world. There are no nuclear power stations in operation in the Basque Country. In any case, several plants are very close to us. If there were a nuclear disaster like the one in Japan, we would be in danger.

The Basque Country besieged by four nuclear reactors

We have been in the Basque Country for a long time fearing that a nuclear power plant would be built, for example, in Lemoiz. In the end, this plant was not built. In any case, the Basque Country is in a dangerous place, because our country is surrounded by 66 nuclear power plants and we have four of them very close. In Spain there are eight reactors with a total capacity of 7,727 megawatts, while in France there are 58 reactors with a total capacity of 63,423 megawatts.

The 8 nuclear reactors in Spain are: Garoña —the closest to the Basque Country—, Almaraz I and II, Asco I and II, Cofrentes, Trillo and Vandellos II. We will mention three of the 58 nuclear reactors in France, the closest to the Basque Country: The two of Le Blayais (I and II), in the department of Braud et Saint Louis, near Bordeaux; and the one of Golfech, in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, near Toulouse.

Our country is surrounded by 4 nuclear reactors and these are located between 5 and 200 kilometers from the borders of the Basque Country. Garoña is located in Burgos and has a capacity of 466 megawatts. It was built in 1971 and is 5 km from Álava. The three French reactors are located approximately 200 kilometres from Lapurdi, Zubero and Lower Navarre. The two power plants at Le Blayais have a capacity of 910 megawatts and were built in 1981 and 1983. The Golfech plant has a capacity of 1,310 megawatts and was built in 1991. Le Blayais Nuclear Power Station is one of the three most important power stations in France.

All of these plants have suffered some type of accidents in their facilities in recent years, such as floods and fires, although these accidents cannot be compared to what happened in Fukushima, Japan. However, if a nuclear catastrophe were to occur, whether of the same severity as that of Japan or less severe, it would affect the population of Japan. It is clear that the most serious consequences would be caused by the Garoña plant, since the plans for the evacuation of nuclear accidents evacuate the population located 30 kilometers from the plant.