Radiation risksBelgium turns down Germany’s request to shutter two aging Belgian nuclear plants

Published 21 April 2016

Belgium on Wednesday turned down a request by Germany to shut down two ageing nuclear power near the German-Belgium border. Belgium said the two plants, while old, still meet the strictest safety standards. Both the Doel and Tihange power stations, in operation since 1974, were scheduled to be shut down and decommissioned in 2015.

Belgium on Wednesday turned down a request by Germany to shut down two ageing nuclear power near the German-Belgium border.

Belgium said the two plants, while old, still meet the strictest safety standards.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Barbara Hendricks, Germany’s environment m minister, earlier in the day asked the Belgian authorities to suspend operations at the 40-year-old Tihange 2 and Doel 3 reactors “until the resolution of outstanding security issues.”

Belgium’s Nuclear Safety Agency (AFCN) replied by saying that the two plants “respond to the strictest possible safety requirements.”

The agency “is always willing to collaborate with their German counterparts… but only as long as a shared willingness to cooperate in a constructive fashion is demonstrated,” AFNC added in a statement.

The reactor at Tihange is located forty miles from the German border, while Doel, near Antwerp, is about eighty miles from the border.

Experts have pointed out that the reactor pressure vessels at both plants have shown signs of metal degradation, which is not uncommon at reactors of that age.

The two facilities were closed for a few months last year for refurbishing, but despite strong opposition from Germany, France, and the Netherlands, the AFNC allowed both to resume operations last December.

“I believe it is right to temporarily take the plants off-line, at least until further investigations have been completed,” Hendricks said in a statement.

Such a step would be “a strong precautionary measure” and “would show that Belgium takes the concerns of its German neighbors seriously,” she said.

Belgium’s ageing nuclear plants have been a cause of safety and security concerns not only because of their age, but also as a result of a series of problems related to the lax security measures in place to keep the nuclear materials at the plants safe from terrorists or saboteurs.

Both the Doel and Tihange power stations, in operation since 1974, were scheduled to be shut down and decommissioned in 2015.

The Belgian government, however, in a controversial decision in December, has decided to extend the plants’ operations to 2025.

In March Germany also asked France to stop operations at France’s oldest nuclear plant, Fessenheim, which is located near the German and Swiss borders, over safety concerns related to the plant’s age.