Environmental management system

In addition to complying with the specific legislation in force applicable to its projects and facilities and relating to the environment, Enresa has adopted a series of general rules of conduct aimed at improving its environmental management. This has been recognised through ISO 14001 certification.

Respect for the environment should be ensured through the scheduled application of certain criteria. These criteria are documented and are in keeping with international standards.

Since 1986, Enresa has had a Management System implemented that supports the weight of the nuclear standards, the aim being to guarantee the safety of its activities. In 1992 the decision was taken to extend this systematic working approach to all the company’s activities, in response to an increasingly demanding legislation and a growing concern for environmental aspects.

The operation of the different work centres and the performance of their activities give rise to a series of environmental issues that are typical of industrial activities and that differ from those intrinsic to radioactive wastes, such as atmospheric emissions, the release of liquids, the generation of industrial and urban wastes, etc. Enresa took the decision to integrate these conventional aspects into the existing Management System, thus constituting the overall Enresa Management System.

ISO 14001 certificates for the Enresa facilities at El Cabril and Vandellós

In 1997 an Environmental Management System was established, implemented and certified for the El Cabril centralised disposal facility, in accordance with standard UNE-EN-ISO-14001, this becoming the first installation of this type to achieve such certification.

In 2006 the environmental management system of the Vandellós I facility was certified.

As a result, protection of the environment becomes just another quality requirement to be met.

The Environmental Management System ensures the performance of the tasks constituting the company’s corporate purpose within the margins of environmental safety and reliability demanded by the legislation and by good practice, now and in the future.

Environmental activities at El Cabril

El Cabril. Natural environment.

El Cabril has a surface area of 1,126 hectares, of which only a small part is set aside for the disposal of radioactive wastes.

Since ownership was transferred to Enresa in 1986, the company has been applying a policy of conservation, repair and improvement of the natural surroundings of the facility. These activities have focussed on three areas with their specific circumstances:

• Forestry or silviculture tasks aimed at conserving and protecting plant life and woodlands, with special emphasis on the prevention of fires.
• Improvement of the habitat, through actions aimed at favouring the maintenance and recovery of species.
• Restoration of land, with a view to returning to the disused mine rubble tips their original plant cover and appearance, reintegrating them into the surroundings.