Malcolm Keay, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, UK

— The reason for the desire to exploit existing nuclear plants is that they are a cheap way of getting low carbon energy

The Spanish government decided to extend the exploitation period of the Garona NPP up to 2013. The matter was discussed about the Kozloduy NPP in Bulgaria. Germany is thinking on the same. It is becoming a tendency common for quite a number of European countries.

The reason for the desire to exploit existing nuclear plants is that they are a cheap way of getting low carbon energy. In Europe they try to reduce the carbon emission.

Speaking about reactor lifetime extension, it depends on the technology. For example, the technology used in UK differs from most of the technology used in other European countries which is pressurized water reactor system. With the UK technology it’s much more difficult to extend the lifetime of a plant. Ordinary a plant is licensed for 25 – 30 years. If an extension is wanted extra work may need to be done as proof that it will continue to operate safely. Someone has to make the decision that it is still safe. So there is an inspection which gives a license for it. This license means that NPP can serve safely for a long period of time. It is a formal system. There are many power plants, and particularly many fossil fuel plants, which are rather old but still operating. The issue with nuclear is that the safety aspects are much more important so require a formal approval procedure. So it is really safety issue.