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Accident at the Vandellòs I nuclear plant

Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant, Baix Camp, Tarragona

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Accident at the Vandellòs I nuclear plant

Historical milestone · Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant, Baix Camp, Tarragona

Image of Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant, not of the place itself.

The Vandellòs nuclear complex, by the sea in the municipality of Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant, was made up of two reactors: Vandellòs I, a graphite-gas reactor in operation since 1967, and Vandellòs II, a pressurised water reactor, from 1981. A fire in the turbine hall on 19 October 1989 damaged the cooling systems of the first one; classified as level 3 on the international scale, it led to the definitive closure of the plant the following year, and it has since been undergoing decommissioning. It is the only Catalan nuclear power plant located by the sea, which is why it was built on a platform twenty-one metres high to protect it from a possible rise in the water level.

1989

Photo: nl:User:LimoWreck (CC BY 2.5)

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