The power companies’ request to extend the life of the MRAZ until 2030 has forced the country to acknowledge that discussing nuclear power is no longer a technical matter confined to the offices of the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN). But it is an electoral issue of the first order. If anyone doubts this, look no further than Extremadura, where this discussion has become a central focus of the election campaign. The regional Socialist Workers’ Party has adopted a position as clear as it is desperate: “The Almerez will not close.” The problem is that this message directly collides with the ambiguity of the government of Pedro Sanchez, which still does not dare to say explicitly that there will be an extension, for fear of angering Somar. In Extremadura they promise energy stability. In Madrid they talk about “technical evaluations”. A strange way to ask for voters’ trust. This contradiction has contributed to the collapse of socialism in regional opinion pollsThis sets it apart from its previous results, while the Congress Party advances with a simple message, “The battle continues with us.” As for the Vox Party, it directly says that it will open new centers. No one is missing from the party here.
This discussion only happens when we Spaniards change our minds. According to a recent DYM survey of 20 minutesA 56% of the population wants to maintain or even expand the use of nuclear energyWhile only one in five is committed to closing factories. What is even more surprising is the generational shift: younger people are more likely than their elders to continue to have access to this technology. The country has stopped being anti-nuclear while some parties continue to act as if we are living in 1986.
The power outage last April confirmed what many experts have been spreading for years on social networks to dismantle the disastrous anti-nuclear arsenal with data. Because let’s be clear: Spain does not have the technical capacity to maintain a 100% renewable system. It is not ideological, but physical: without massive storage, without enhanced networks, and without a real alternative to generating bases, closing nuclear plants means relying on gas. This means more emissions and higher bills.
For this reason, the extension of the maraz is inevitable. The electricity companies know it, the Extremaduran Socialist Workers’ Party knows it, and the government knows it too, although it prefers to bite its tongue so as not to upset its partners. We will see that when the official decision arrives: it will be reserved, silent, wrapped in technical details and without a single photo in Moncloa. Renewable, yes, but also stable light and affordable. We Spaniards went nuclear out of common sense. This is the conclusion that politics, which is always exposed to collapse, must accept sooner or later.