In Spain there is a warehouse for low and medium activity radioactive waste, which is located in El Cabril (Córdoba "Province of Córdoba (Spain)") and it is estimated that it has the capacity to house the waste produced in the country until around 2030.[10]​.

There is no high-level waste warehouse in Spain, so during the normal activity of nuclear power plants this type of waste is temporarily stored in pools located in their own facilities, and must be transferred to warehouses in other countries when the plants are dismantled.

Specifically, it has waste stored in the United Kingdom, which should have returned to Spain at the end of 2010, and in France, which should have returned in 2011.[11]​ If Spain cannot assume the return of this waste due to not having an appropriate place, it will have to face fines of up to €60,000 per day.[11]​.

Of the radioactive waste produced in Spain, 95% are low and medium activity and the other 5% (160 tons per year) are high.[11]​.

ENRESA, created in 1985, is the public company in charge of managing all radioactive waste generated in Spain. The Nuclear Safety Council is the independent regulatory body, in charge of controlling its activities.

The Spanish government unanimously approved, in 2004, the sixth General Plan for Radioactive Waste of Spain, which contemplated the construction of a centralized high-level waste warehouse.[11]​.

In 2009, the government developed a project to create a centralized temporary warehouse for high-activity waste in a Spanish municipality.[12]​.

This project will be a surface installation designed to dry store up to 12,816 m³ of waste.[13]​ The isolation of this will be carried out using three barriers: a stainless steel capsule, a stainless steel storage tube and a concrete structure almost two meters thick, the whole being impenetrable by radiation.[11]​.

The facility is designed to operate for a period of 60 years.[12]​

After this operational period, and given that the activity of this waste lasts hundreds of years, it would be necessary, according to the calculations of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, that a definitive storage facility be put into operation around the year 2050, to bury high-activity waste and medium-activity waste that cannot go to El Cabril.[14]​.

In January 2010, thirteen municipalities initially presented their candidacies to host the future ATC.[15]​ The official list, announced by the Ministry of Industry, was made public on February 3, 2010 with the following municipalities:[16]​[17]​.

1. • Albalá (Cáceres)[18]​.

2. • Ascó (Tarragona)[19]​.

3. • Campo de San Pedro (Segovia)[16]​.

4. • Congosto de Valdavia (Palencia)[20]​.

5. • Lomas de Campos (Palencia)[16]​.

6. • Melgar de Arriba (Valladolid)[21]​.

7. • Santervás de Campos (Valladolid)[21]​.

8. • Santiuste de San Juan Bautista (Segovia).[22]​.

9. • Torrubia de Soria (Soria)[23]​.

10. • Yebra (Guadalajara)[24]​.

11. • Villar de Cañas (Cuenca)[25]​.

12. • Villar del Pozo (Ciudad Real)[20]​.

13. • Zarra "Zarra (Valencia)") (Valencia)[26]​.

On the official list there were two candidates who had already formally withdrawn their candidacy: Santiuste de San Juan Bautista and Campo de San Pedro, both in the province of Segovia.[27]​

Furthermore, the candidacy of Torrubia de Soria did not comply with what was established in the public call, since it indicates that the areas that are part of the Natura 2000 Network are automatically excluded[12]​ and the municipality of Torrubia is fully included in the SPA of Altos Campos de Gómara"),[28]​.

In the end, it will be the Cuenca municipality of Villar de Cañas where the ATC will be opened.[29]​ On July 30, 2012, ENRESA acquired the land called "La Campana", "Las Balanzas" or "Los Boleos", with a total area of ​​about 55 hectares, for its construction (Coordinates: ). The company paid about 10,400 euros per hectare to the 14 owners of the affected plots. In September 2012, the president of ENRESA declared that the works would begin in "a year and a half or two", that is, around 2014.[30]​ The installation was expected to be completed in 2016.[31]​.

Currently the ATC tender is paralyzed until the Nuclear Safety Council grants the permits and finishes analyzing the reports, which indicate that the chosen location was not appropriate.[3]​

This will increase the project budget by more than 30%. This mismanagement could have been one of the causes of the dismissal of Francisco Gil-Ortega as president of ENRESA.[32]​.

Some sectors of society and environmental organizations showed their rejection of the location of the ATC in different parts of Spain, which generated an important debate in society.[34] The issue reached an important political background when even the regional governments of some autonomous communities rejected the decision of city councils belonging to them that had requested the warehouse. Thus, on February 1, the plenary session of the Parliament of Castilla-La Mancha rejected, with votes against the Popular Party, the construction of the ATC in the entire community, despite the fact that three of its municipalities had presented candidacy.[35]​.

In Extremadura, however, it was the PP that rejected the location of the ATC in the region, arguing that they already had other nuclear facilities, such as the Almaraz nuclear power plant.[36] The coalition government of the Generalitat of Catalonia also showed its disagreement with the warehouse being built in the community, justified by the presence of three nuclear reactors in Catalonia.[37] The Junta de Castilla y León, for its part, accepted the location of the ATC in the community, time that urged the Government to extend the operation of the Garoña Nuclear Power Plant, with a license until 2013.[38]​.

The issue also raised debate within the then ruling party, the PSOE, when some of its regional leaders informed the President of the Government of their rejection of the location of the warehouse in their respective communities.[39]​.

In 1986, when Spain entered the European Economic Community, the Government of Felipe González approved the Underground Experimental Pilot Installation (IPES) project, for years considered the first centralized temporary storage (ATC) project in Spain, as today it continues to appear on numerous websites of environmental organizations.[40] But the IPES project was actually an underground experimental laboratory with which the aim was to study the response of granitic rocks to the existence of external sources of radioactivity, with the aim objective of knowing the viability of this type of rocks when developing an ATC. But the strong social rejection, which included the kidnapping of the second vice president of the Salamanca Provincial Council, forced the cancellation of the project before it was launched.[41]​[42]​.

• - Portal:Energy. Content related to Energy.

• - Official project page.

• - Enresa Page: ENRESA.

In Spain there is a warehouse for low and medium activity radioactive waste, which is located in El Cabril (Córdoba "Province of Córdoba (Spain)") and it is estimated that it has the capacity to house the waste produced in the country until around 2030.[10]​.

There is no high-level waste warehouse in Spain, so during the normal activity of nuclear power plants this type of waste is temporarily stored in pools located in their own facilities, and must be transferred to warehouses in other countries when the plants are dismantled.

Specifically, it has waste stored in the United Kingdom, which should have returned to Spain at the end of 2010, and in France, which should have returned in 2011.[11]​ If Spain cannot assume the return of this waste due to not having an appropriate place, it will have to face fines of up to €60,000 per day.[11]​.

Of the radioactive waste produced in Spain, 95% are low and medium activity and the other 5% (160 tons per year) are high.[11]​.

ENRESA, created in 1985, is the public company in charge of managing all radioactive waste generated in Spain. The Nuclear Safety Council is the independent regulatory body, in charge of controlling its activities.

The Spanish government unanimously approved, in 2004, the sixth General Plan for Radioactive Waste of Spain, which contemplated the construction of a centralized high-level waste warehouse.[11]​.

In 2009, the government developed a project to create a centralized temporary warehouse for high-activity waste in a Spanish municipality.[12]​.

This project will be a surface installation designed to dry store up to 12,816 m³ of waste.[13]​ The isolation of this will be carried out using three barriers: a stainless steel capsule, a stainless steel storage tube and a concrete structure almost two meters thick, the whole being impenetrable by radiation.[11]​.

The facility is designed to operate for a period of 60 years.[12]​

After this operational period, and given that the activity of this waste lasts hundreds of years, it would be necessary, according to the calculations of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, that a definitive storage facility be put into operation around the year 2050, to bury high-activity waste and medium-activity waste that cannot go to El Cabril.[14]​.

In January 2010, thirteen municipalities initially presented their candidacies to host the future ATC.[15]​ The official list, announced by the Ministry of Industry, was made public on February 3, 2010 with the following municipalities:[16]​[17]​.

1. • Albalá (Cáceres)[18]​.

2. • Ascó (Tarragona)[19]​.

3. • Campo de San Pedro (Segovia)[16]​.

4. • Congosto de Valdavia (Palencia)[20]​.

5. • Lomas de Campos (Palencia)[16]​.

6. • Melgar de Arriba (Valladolid)[21]​.

7. • Santervás de Campos (Valladolid)[21]​.

8. • Santiuste de San Juan Bautista (Segovia).[22]​.

9. • Torrubia de Soria (Soria)[23]​.

10. • Yebra (Guadalajara)[24]​.

11. • Villar de Cañas (Cuenca)[25]​.

12. • Villar del Pozo (Ciudad Real)[20]​.

13. • Zarra "Zarra (Valencia)") (Valencia)[26]​.

On the official list there were two candidates who had already formally withdrawn their candidacy: Santiuste de San Juan Bautista and Campo de San Pedro, both in the province of Segovia.[27]​

Furthermore, the candidacy of Torrubia de Soria did not comply with what was established in the public call, since it indicates that the areas that are part of the Natura 2000 Network are automatically excluded[12]​ and the municipality of Torrubia is fully included in the SPA of Altos Campos de Gómara"),[28]​.

In the end, it will be the Cuenca municipality of Villar de Cañas where the ATC will be opened.[29]​ On July 30, 2012, ENRESA acquired the land called "La Campana", "Las Balanzas" or "Los Boleos", with a total area of ​​about 55 hectares, for its construction (Coordinates: ). The company paid about 10,400 euros per hectare to the 14 owners of the affected plots. In September 2012, the president of ENRESA declared that the works would begin in "a year and a half or two", that is, around 2014.[30]​ The installation was expected to be completed in 2016.[31]​.

Currently the ATC tender is paralyzed until the Nuclear Safety Council grants the permits and finishes analyzing the reports, which indicate that the chosen location was not appropriate.[3]​

This will increase the project budget by more than 30%. This mismanagement could have been one of the causes of the dismissal of Francisco Gil-Ortega as president of ENRESA.[32]​.

Some sectors of society and environmental organizations showed their rejection of the location of the ATC in different parts of Spain, which generated an important debate in society.[34] The issue reached an important political background when even the regional governments of some autonomous communities rejected the decision of city councils belonging to them that had requested the warehouse. Thus, on February 1, the plenary session of the Parliament of Castilla-La Mancha rejected, with votes against the Popular Party, the construction of the ATC in the entire community, despite the fact that three of its municipalities had presented candidacy.[35]​.

In Extremadura, however, it was the PP that rejected the location of the ATC in the region, arguing that they already had other nuclear facilities, such as the Almaraz nuclear power plant.[36] The coalition government of the Generalitat of Catalonia also showed its disagreement with the warehouse being built in the community, justified by the presence of three nuclear reactors in Catalonia.[37] The Junta de Castilla y León, for its part, accepted the location of the ATC in the community, time that urged the Government to extend the operation of the Garoña Nuclear Power Plant, with a license until 2013.[38]​.

The issue also raised debate within the then ruling party, the PSOE, when some of its regional leaders informed the President of the Government of their rejection of the location of the warehouse in their respective communities.[39]​.

In 1986, when Spain entered the European Economic Community, the Government of Felipe González approved the Underground Experimental Pilot Installation (IPES) project, for years considered the first centralized temporary storage (ATC) project in Spain, as today it continues to appear on numerous websites of environmental organizations.[40] But the IPES project was actually an underground experimental laboratory with which the aim was to study the response of granitic rocks to the existence of external sources of radioactivity, with the aim objective of knowing the viability of this type of rocks when developing an ATC. But the strong social rejection, which included the kidnapping of the second vice president of the Salamanca Provincial Council, forced the cancellation of the project before it was launched.[41]​[42]​.

• - Portal:Energy. Content related to Energy.

• - Official project page.

• - Enresa Page: ENRESA.