The Portuguese Government would like to see Spain abandon nuclear power. However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs admits that Spain’s "energy transition" is the responsibility of the Spanish Government and that Portugal is powerless to intervene.
Augusto Santos Silva stated to parliament that the Portuguese State cannot interfere in Spain's decision to close or maintain the Almaraz nuclear power plant, despite the fact that Portugal already has and has every right so to do under existing Europen legislation. It is not clear why the minister dismissed a swathe of EU cross-border legistlation in this manner but the options of stupidity and guile can not be ruled out at this stage.
Silva, speaking to the Parliamentary Committee on the Environment and Planning, said that the Government "follows the orientation" of parliament regarding Almaraz but that "the decision to close or prolong the Almaraz nuclear power plant is the responsibility of the Spanish State."
The minister does not guarantee the eventual closure of the plant after 2020 as this “depends on decisions that are not mine," as Silva responded to MPs when asked about Portugal's position regarding the closure of the Spanish plant, located at about 100 kilometres from the Portuguese border.
The head of Portuguese diplomacy said, without referring directly to the closure of the nuclear plant, that Portugal defends Spain’s energy transition to "renewable, clean and safe energy."
According to Augusto Santos Silva, "it is in the interest of Portugal" to work to make an energy transition possible in Spain, and "to reduce risks to the population to zero.”
The minister assured MPs that Portugal will be "intransigent in the defence of Portuguese interests" but also "cooperative and credible" in its proposals.
But for the minister, "nuclear energy is not a zero risk" and "the possibility of siting this equipment near the Portuguese border is in conflict with the national interest," despite his wholehearted agreement that Spain can do what it wants without reference to Portugal’s interests, the basis of Portugal’s earlier complaint to the European Parliament which was quashed by Jean-Claude Juncker.
The hearing of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, together with the Environment Minister, João Matos Fernandes, (both pictured below) was requested by the Left Bloc and the Greens regarding the Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant and the whitewash report produced to ensure Spain could do what it wants to prolong the life of the Almaraz plant which is nearing the end of its planned life.
The carefully selected working group that produced the report, a group which excluded any environmental NGO representation, stated that the project is "safe and adequate" and added that it had consulted widely with environmental NGO’s - a claim denied by environmental NGOs.
This base level of obsequious cow-towing to Spain is on the direct orders of Juncker who does not want to see a spat develop between the two countries as he struggles to regain his credibility and keep Europe united, after the UK’s Brexit decision and the current shift to nationalism.
The minister today spouted his own brand of politically-driven clap-trap and will face no small measure of criticism when those opposed to prolonging the life of an already suspect nuclear plant, and the building of a nuclear waste dump nearby, issue their responses.
News released on Radio Renacença earlier in the day, that in 2010 a report that the impact of a nuclear accident would irradiate 800,000 of Portugal's countrymen, women and childen: and the fact the Civil Defence Association had never been given sight of the report, does not help the ministers' standing.
Foto: Manuel de Almeida / LUSA
