Our beginnings

ENUSA was established in 1972 as Empresa Nacional del Uranio S.A. Its initial objective was to explore and investigate the uranium deposits existing in Spain to produce concentrates. To this end, the State granted us the exploitation of the existing uranium mines at Saelices el Chico (Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca) and La Haba (Don Benito, Badajoz), which were put into operation years later.

At the same time, and in order to boost this business, we created the company EURODIF (together with French, Italian and Belgian entities) in 1973 to build the uranium enrichment plant at Tricastin (France).

During 1975, at ENUSA we agreed to collaborate with the French company Cogema, the Japanese company OURD and the State of Niger to set up a mining company for the production of uranium concentrates (COMINAK), located in the Republic of Niger.

During those first years, we also signed the first enriched uranium supply contracts with the Spanish electricity companies, owners of the nuclear power plants in the country, and a series of licensing agreements with WESTINGHOUSE and GENERAL ELECTRIC.

In 1979, by legal mandate, ENUSA began to manage the basic uranium stockpile. Stocks which represent Spain's energy guarantee.

Growth

In 1981, after obtaining the corresponding licences, we began construction work on the Juzbado fuel assembly plant in Salamanca. Four years later, in 1985, it was already fully operational. The first fuel supply was sent to the Ascó nuclear power plant in 1985.

In 1988, ENUSA won its first contract to supply fuel assemblies abroad, specifically for the Swiss nuclear power plant in Leibstadt. This is how we began our line of action abroad. A line that has been gaining more and more weight in the face of the difficulties posed by the nuclear moratorium for the growth and expansion of the business in Spain.

A year later, in 1989, we signed an agreement with GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. to jointly operate in the European BWR nuclear fuel market.

Expansion

ENUSA's expansion during the 1990s was the result of new commercial alliances and a policy of business diversification. Thus, in 1991 ENUSA, WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION and BRITISH NUCLEAR FUELS PLC. formed the EUROPEAN FUEL GROUP, with the aim of acting together in the European market for PWR-type nuclear fuel.

In the early 90s

At the beginning of the 1990s, ENUSA embarked on a policy of business diversification with the aim of taking advantage of our technological potential and human resources in new lines of action linked, to a greater or lesser degree, to the nuclear sector and the environmental area. We also acquired other companies, thus the ENUSA GROUP was born. At present, this GROUP is made up of EXPRESS TRUCK S.A.U. (ETSA), in charge of the transport of dangerous and special goods, and the EMPRESA PARA LA GESTIÓN DE RESIDUOS INDUSTRIALES S.A., S.M.E., M.P. (Emgrisa), which manages industrial waste and treats contaminated soil and water.

In environmental matters, ENUSA itself, through our Technical Environmental Office, has initiated activities focused on the management and treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW), agro-livestock and agro-industrial waste.

In 1991/1993, we built the Quercus Plant in Saelices el Chico for the production of uranium concentrates. This plant ceased operations in 2000. Prior to that, in 1990, the La Haba plant had also ceased operations. Environmental restoration work was undertaken at both sites. This is why, in 1997, we decided to create ENUSA's Environmental Project Management Department, today known as the Technical Environmental Office, which is responsible for managing the decommissioning and restoration work at the Badajoz Mining Centre and providing support to the Saelices el Chico Centre.

Agreements are reached with TECNTATOM for the development and operation of SICOM fuel characterisation equipment.

Another of the alliances we signed, in 1995, was ENUSA - ENWESA Economic Interest Association with WESTINGHOUSE and ENWESA-OPERACIONES S.A., dedicated to the provision of nuclear fuel services.

In 1996, ENUSA and GENERAL ELECTRIC NUCLEAR ENERGY created the company GE ENUSA NUCLEAR FUEL, S.A. (GENUSA) to operate in the European market for the supply of BWR nuclear fuel.

Creation of ENUSA's Environmental Project Management Department

ENUSA is committed to fuel services and the expansion of technology and resources to address this line of activity.

A joint venture ENUSA/WTS/TECNATOM is set up to provide reload coordination services and other reloading in-plant services.

Internationalisation and
new lines of business

In recent years, ENUSA has achieved international recognition from our customers, thanks to our commitment towards quality and excellence in management, dedicating a high percentage of our production to export in Europe.

In 2006, we formed a Joint Venture with WESTINGHOUSE and TECNATOM to provide refuelling services for the Ascó I and II, and Vandellós II plants. A year later we created the SPANISH NUCLEAR GROUP FOR COOPERATION alliance together with ENSA, Tecnatom and Ringo Válvulas, aimed at developing the Chinese nuclear market and other growing international markets.

In 2011, we began to operate a biogas plant in Juzbado and another MSW management plant in Castellón.

The four partners carry out promotional activities in a coordinated effort through the SNGC group while continuing to develop their own commercial activities individually. All this has represented an important step for ENUSA in our internationalisation process, which has resulted in the signing of several cooperation agreements with Chinese, Brazilian and Argentinian companies in order to identify areas of potential development in all the processes of the nuclear fuel cycle. We have recently collaborated with Tecnatom in the supply of an advanced passive scanner to the Resende plant, operated by Industrias Nucleares do Brasil.

Our subsidiary, Emgrisa, also began a process of internationalisation, registering the Emgrisa brand in both Chile and Peru. In addition, its thermal desorption plant is involved in a project to treat and decontaminate hydrocarbon-contaminated soils in Kuwait.