goingcritical:vandellos-1Spain · Power reactor
Vandellòs-1
Status: Shut down reached first criticality February 11, 1972 Reactor status full glossary → Announced Publicly announced — a site and design are proposed, but construction has not begun. Site preparation Early site and civil works are under way; the first safety-related ("nuclear") concrete has not yet been poured. Under construction Formal construction has begun, marked by the first nuclear concrete. Fuel loaded Nuclear fuel has been loaded into the core. The reactor is fuelled but has not yet gone critical. Critical Has reached first criticality — a self-sustaining chain reaction, usually at low power — but is not yet connected to the grid. Grid connected Synchronised to the electrical grid and exporting power for the first time, but still in commissioning and power-ascension testing — not yet in commercial service. In commercial operation — the operator has formally declared the unit in regular commercial service. Shut down Permanently shut down and no longer generating; may be defuelled, undergoing decommissioning, or preserved in place. Canceled Abandoned before completion.
Site: Vandellòs, Tarragona
A French-designed UNGG gas-graphite reactor, the only one of its kind in Spain, sharing the design lineage of France's early Magnox-style plants. It went critical in February 1972 and operated until a turbine-hall fire on 19 October 1989 (rated INES level 3) led to its permanent shutdown on 31 July 1990. Decommissioning brought it to a long "latency" safe-store state, with radioactive machinery dismantled by 2003.
Details
| Design | Gas-graphite reactor (UNGG / GCR), CO2-cooled, graphite-moderated |
| Electrical output | 480 MWe |
Milestone history
- Announced —
- Construction start June 21, 1968
- Fuel load —
- First criticality February 11, 1972
- Grid connection May 6, 1972
- Commercial operation August 2, 1972