Brussels, 21/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - During an inspection of the Doel nuclear plant in Belgium, located less than 10 km from the Dutch border, the Belgian Minister for the Interior, Jan Jambon and the Dutch Minister for the Environment, Melanie Schultz van Haegen, agreed to improve communication regarding nuclear safety in their respective countries.
Belgium recently extended the life cycle of three nuclear reactors by a further 10 years but which had reached the 40 year age limit. It is seeking to reassure neighbouring countries that have concerns in this connection (Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) and will be holding meetings with representatives from their governments. On 18 January, Jambon met the Luxembourg Secretary of State for Sustainable Development, Camille Gira. He also sent a similar invitation to the German government to visit the nuclear power plant in Tihange.
During her visit to the Doel power plant with Jambon and the Belgian Minister for Energy, Marie-Christine Marghem, Schultz van Haegen expressed the Netherlands' “serious concerns” about the safety of Belgium's nuclear power facilities.
In a reference to a number of incidents in December 2015 (a fire breaking out in an electrical switchboard, following a water leak in a generator or alternator problem) she said that “There had been concerns about the age of the Doel plant and the incidents that had recently taken place”.
On Wednesday, the nuclear power facility operator, Electrabel, and the Belgian nuclear authority (AFCN) both pointed out that these incidents had occurred in the non-nuclear part of the plant and that the reactors had automatically been switched off.
Schultz van Haegen, however, said that she had recently had reassurances about the safety of the Doel plant and that “these incidents did not provoke any risks to the nuclear site. Therefore, it did not involve a nuclear incident but, perhaps, tomorrow there could be one. These concerns are serious and this is why we are here to be as transparent as possible”.
Jambon provided assurances that “the Belgian government's guideline is that we do not concede an iota when it comes to safety, not one iota”. Schultz van Haegen called for greater transparency between Belgium and the Netherlands in safety matters, which could be facilitated through having access to each other's systems and joint inspections.
Over the past few weeks, Electrabel has restarted two reactors in the country's nuclear power facilities at Unit 3 at Doel and Unit 2 at the Tihange plant. They had been switched off in March 2014 after the discovery of micro-fissures. The AFCN finally decided that these minute fractures did not present any risk, after having carried out thoroughgoing tests and consulting independent experts.
Based on a second expert opinion carried out by the scientist, Ilse Tweer, a specialist in material resistance, the Greens/EFA at the European Parliament contested on 14 January the assessment by the AFCN, which gave the go-ahead for the plants' restart (see EUROPE 11469). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)