The Ajuntament de Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant has officially abandoned plans to develop a proton therapy centre for cancer treatment at the site of the former Vandellòs I nuclear power station. The project, first announced in November 2021 by then-mayor Alfons Garcia and the Mancomunitat d’Iniciatives pel Desenvolupament Integral del Territori (MIDIT), proposed repurposing the reactor containment building into a cutting-edge medical facility with four treatment rooms, a cyclotron, and diagnostic services.
Under the initial proposal, the €134 million initiative could have saved at least €34.4 million in decommissioning costs, according to an economic study by public policy consultancy ICPP S.L., commissioned by MIDIT. It was also expected to serve over 1,500 patients annually from Catalonia, Aragon, the Valencian Community, and the Balearic Islands.
However, current mayor Assumpció Castellví confirmed the project will not move forward. She cited two main reasons: lack of concrete commitments and the fact that the land is owned by Enresa, the state-owned company responsible for dismantling Spain’s nuclear facilities. “On someone else’s land, I won’t build castles in the air,” Castellví told ACN.
Ownership and Timing Halt Progress
Castellví explained the plan was halted when her administration took office in 2023, calling it a distraction over property they do not control. “It was a waste of time, going around in circles on something that wasn’t ours,” she said.
The site remains under Enresa’s management until the end of the Level 2 latency period in 2028, after which full dismantling will begin. Until then, no construction or redevelopment can proceed. Even if timelines aligned, Castellví questioned the long-term viability of proton therapy itself, suggesting the technology may be outdated by the time the site becomes available.
“It wasn’t a bad idea, but it wasn’t well grounded,”
she added, noting that without changes to Enresa’s schedule or ownership transfer, no development can occur.
Federal Support Never Materialised
Though the Spanish government expressed support in March 2023, with then-state delegate Santi Castellà calling the project “strategic”, no funding or implementation framework followed. Previous discussions between local leaders and Enresa yielded no progress, as the agency remained committed to its existing decommissioning timeline.
The original concept emerged from a final-degree architecture project by Carlos Gonzalvo of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s CAIT research group, who argued the reactor’s shielded structure made it ideal for housing radiation-sensitive medical equipment.
Reported by antenacaro.cat, diaridetarragona.com, vandellos-hospitalet.cat, Joan Tardà Fernández, Marc Rovira, reusdigital.cat, Eduard Jiménez, lavanguardia.com.
