Vandellòs I proton therapy centre proposal ruled out

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.

Laia Serra · 15 Aug 2026 · 2 min read

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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