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# Vandellòs I proton therapy centre proposal ruled out
- URL: https://barna.news/vandellos-i-proton-therapy-centre/
- Published: 2026-08-15T11:48:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-15T11:48:47.000Z
- Description: The proposed cancer treatment centre at the former Vandellòs I nuclear plant will not go ahead, ending a scheme that had projected more than 1,100 construction jobs and 200 permanent posts.
- Author: Laia Serra
- Tags: health

The proposal to convert part of the former Vandellòs I nuclear power station into a proton therapy centre for cancer treatment has been ruled out, according to [Diari Catalunya](https://diaricatalunya.cat/baix-camp/general/descartat-el-centre-de-protons-per-al-cancer-a-vandellos-i-lhospitalet?ref=barna.news).

For residents of Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant, Tivissa and Pratdip, the decision ends a redevelopment plan that had forecast more than 1,100 jobs during construction and 200 jobs once the facility was operating. The project had also proposed treating more than 1,500 patients a year.

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## A plan to reuse the former reactor building

The Ajuntament de Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant and MIDIT, the Commonwealth of Initiatives for the Integral Development of the Territory of Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant, Tivissa and Pratdip, publicly promoted the scheme in November 2021.

It was based on an architectural final-degree project by Carlos Gonzalvo, a member of the CAIT research group at Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s School of Architecture. The proposal was to use the former reactor’s containment structure for proton therapy, a form of radiation treatment for tumours.

> “We ask the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge to authorise and lead it, and the Generalitat to support and manage it,” Alfons García, then mayor of Vandellòs i l’Hospitalet de l’Infant, said when the project was presented.

The council’s [original announcement](https://www.vandellos-hospitalet.cat/actualitat/noticies/vandellos-reclama-un-centre-de-protonterapia-a-l2019antiga-central-nuclear?ref=barna.news) said the proposal had been discussed with Spain’s health and industry ministries, several Generalitat departments, Enresa, the public company responsible for radioactive waste, the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas and the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, Spain’s nuclear safety regulator.

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## Costs and timetable were projections, not secured commitments

A 2023 estimate put the required investment at €134.2 million. The figure appears in the [technical report by Eduard Jiménez](https://midit2020.com/media/attachments/2021/11/29/informefinalvandellosprotonterapia-catal.pdf?ref=barna.news) prepared for the proposal.

- The plans envisaged four treatment rooms and a cyclotron, the machine used to accelerate particles for proton therapy.
- Promoters had estimated that reusing part of the nuclear site could save €34.4 million in dismantling, restoration and radioactive clean-up work.
- They had described 2026 as an ideal target for securing finance, including possible European, private or mixed funding. It was an aspiration rather than a confirmed funding timetable.
- The former plant entered a 25-year latency period in 2003, which the project’s promoters expected to end in 2028.

Vandellòs I has been inactive for more than 20 years. The council and MIDIT had argued that the building’s shielding and internal volumes made it suitable for partial reuse as a medical facility.

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*Reported by diaricatalunya.cat, vandellos-hospitalet.cat, lavanguardia.com, Marc Rovira, diaridetarragona.com, antenacaro.cat, Joan Tardà Fernández, Eduard Jiménez.*