Spain has approved legislation that increases the so-called Enresa tax on operators of nuclear power plants from €7.98/MWh to €10.36/MWh.

The new tax, representing an increase of almost 30%, goes to the federal fund for the management of radioactive waste, a task overseen by state nuclear waste agency Enresa.

The government said the increase was due to rising storage and disposal costs foreseen in its latest estimates.

But Madrid-based nuclear industry group Foro Nuclear said that in approving the new tax the government “has not taken into account any of the objections submitted in a timely manner by the Spanish nuclear industry last April”.

“At a time when numerous prestigious national and international institutions and countries with nuclear programmes underway, especially in the European Union, are highlighting the contribution of nuclear energy to the energy transition towards a decarbonised and sustainable world economy, we find here that the direction is the opposite,” Foro Nuclear said.