Garoña March 2012: between hope and fear

Yet another September the March against Garoña Nuclear Power Plant (Northern Spain, near the Basque Country), designed with the same General Electric junk technology as the infamous Fukushima Daiichi NPP that so many problems is causing to Japan and all the Northern Pacific region, proceeded yesterday to walk the distance between Barcina del Barco and the perilous facility. 

Garoña NPP: the lack of security was evidenced by this action months ago

The thousands demonstrators had however a unusual illusion this day: Nuclenor, the owner of the plant, has not asked for a new extension and the period for doing it has already expired. In principle this would mean that a year from now the plant would have to close and be decommissioned. 

Garoña March 2012

In principle, legally... you know. That stuff only applies for common people like you and me not to the great bourgeois oligarchs. So while everybody is hopeful there is still much uncertainty, after all it is clear that the current reactionary government of Spain wants to keep all nuclear plants working even, as is the case with Garoña, beyond schedule. So the widespread rumor is that Nuclenor and its owners (Iberdrola, Endesa) are playing chicken with the government about the conditions of the lease and very specially about the new taxes and security demands for nuclear power, recently approved because of EU pressure.

Ideally they would both lose: Garoña will be closed as demanded by law and everyone would be happy... except the oligarchs and their pet politicians. And that is what has everybody worried: will they reach a last minute agreement and somehow cheat or even change the law?

Hopefully not. Hopefully this one will be the last year that the dangerous central, ritual sister of Fukushima Daiichi, is operating.

Major cities, roads and all the whole Basque Country are put at risk by Garoña NPP

News references[es]: Gara, EiTB (with video).