Brussels, 03/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 1 February, Barbara Hendricks, the German minister for the environment, met the Belgian Minister for the Interior, Jan Jambon. She highlighted German concerns about the safety of the Belgian nuclear power plants, Doel and Tihange, which are close to its border. After her meeting with Jambon, she said: “For the moment, I feel assured but we will see”.
She added: “Belgium has provided reassurances that experts will respond to a variety of questions from the German government in February and a meeting is planned in March with the ad hoc expert level workgroup”. Jambon promised, as he had done previously with Luxembourg and the Netherlands (see EUROPE 11473), to set up crossed inspections between their respective countries.
Belgium recently extended the lifespan of several nuclear reactors that had reached the 40-year age limit, by a further 10 years. It now wants to reassure its neighbours about their concerns about the plants' safety, following a series of accidents recently that affected the reactors at Doel 3 and Tihange 2. These reactors were started up again at the end of December 2015, after having been closed down for almost two years, due to fears about their safety issues related to cracks in their container walls. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)