Spain's nuclear watchdog has recommended that the government renew the operating licence of the oldest of the country's six nuclear plants for another 10 years, Spanish media reported Friday. The Nuclear Safety Council said it would only publish its recommendations Monday after weekend elections for the European Parliament. But Radio Cadena Ser said the report it had sent to the industry ministry said the plant at Garona could safely operate for another decade if it replaced all its cables. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government now has until July 5, when the 38-year-old nuclear plant's licence expires, to decide whether to follow the watchdog's recommendations. A decision to prolong the life of the Garona plant on the Ebro river in northern Spain would be a major u-turn for Zapatero. During general elections in 2004 and 2004 he pledged to gradually phase out nuclear power and concentrate instead on renewable energy. There are only 14 nuclear plants in the world older than the one at Garona, according to Spanish green group Ecologists in Action. They urged Zapatero not to extend the life of the plant. 'In this way he would fulfill his election programme and free citizens and the environment from the risk that keeping one of the world's oldest nuclear plants on the plant in operation carries,' it said in a statement. The Socialist Party and Zapatero's cabinet are divided over the issue. Some argue that atomic power could help Spain cut fuel imports and curb generation costs. Permits for running most of the other nuclear plants will expire by 2011, or within the mandate of Zapatero's government. Spain's six nuclear power plants produce around 20 percent of the country's electricity. Support for atomic energy waned in Europe after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in the Ukraine raised safety concerns over the energy source. But in the wake of oil-price volatility, England has approved the construction of a new generation of nuclear plants while German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said laws calling for nuclear reactors to be phased out by about 2021 were 'unreasonable.' The Garona plant is run by Nuclenor, which is jointly owned by Spain's two biggest utilities, Iberdrola and Endesa. 