The Spanish government has approved a royal decree allowing recently shut-down nuclear power plants to apply for a renewal of their operating license. The request must be made within one year of the cessation order being received. This would apply to Nuclenor's Garoña nuclear power plant, whose licence expired on 6 July 2013. In September 2012, Iberdrola and Endesa, the owners of Nuclenor, decided not to submit an operating licence renewal application in September 2012, awaiting regulatory clarifications. The plant was closed in mid-December 2012 to avoid paying a full year of retroactive tax charges as of 1 January 2013. With the new royal decree, Garoña would have until 6 July 2014 to request the renewal of its licence. The 446 MW BWR plant was commissioned in 1971 and is suitable operations until 2019 according to the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, CSN).
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