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Spain hikes hazardous waste levy by 30%.

The Spanish federal government said on Tuesday it would raise the levy nuclear reactor operators pay to money the taking apart of plants and hazardous waste management by roughly 30% due to rising storage and disposal costs foreseen in its latest estimates.

Madrid's strategy to shut the country's reactors by 2035 has faced opposition from market and service lobbies.

It

was

also a hot problem during in 2015's electoral campaign, with the conservative opposition People's Party (PP) pledging to reverse the planned phase-out.

The first plant is anticipated to cease operating in 2027.

Beginning on July 1, the business will have to pay 10.36 euros ($ 11.10) per megawatt hour, up from the 7.98 euros they pay currently.

Lobby group Foro Nuclear, which has actually filed administrative appeals versus the federal government's nuclear waste strategies, stated that the present levy amounts to some 450 million euros a year for Spanish nuclear plants.

The government approximates that dismantling the plants and managing radioactive waste will cost about 20.2 billion euros, to be spent for by a fund supported by the plants' operators.

Spain's nuclear plants produce about a fifth of the nation's electricity. Iberdrola and Endesa are the main operators, however Naturgy and EDP have minor stakes in some plants.

(source: Reuters)