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Portugal says Spain's plans for Almaraz nuclear waste deposit "safe" following appeal

Xinhua, April 27, 2017 Adjust font size:

Portugal has concluded that Spain's plans to build a nuclear waste deposit in Almaraz, around 100 km east of the Portuguese border, is safe, local media revealed on Thursday.

Nuno Lacasta, president of the Portuguese Agency for the Environment (APA), said at a press conference in Lisbon that the waste deposit was an "adequate solution" and would meet international safety standards.

"There are no estimated transboundary impacts in a normal situation of functioning of the waste deposit," Lacasta pointed out.

He said however that Portugal should accompany the upcoming phases of the project.

Spain's decision to build the deposit was announced on December 29. Portugal sent a complaint to the European Commission in January regarding the deposit, calling for a study on the impact the waste facility will have on Portugal to been carried out.

However Portugal reached an amicable agreement with Spain to withdraw the complaint in February, with Spain agreeing that Portuguese specialists, including engineers, could visit the plant in Almaraz to determine its safety conditions. Endit