EPA
–
News from the NOS•today, 02:07
—
In Belgium, the Doel 3 nuclear reactor near Antwerp has been closed for good. It is the first of seven Belgian nuclear reactors that will eventually be retired.
–
At 21:31 the reactor was disconnected from the electricity grid, reports the VRT. This happened after years of preparation: the Belgian government had already decided in 2003 to phase out the use of nuclear energy, but the timing for the closure of the seven reactors changed regularly.
–
Not ready until 2040
The Doel 3 had been in use since 1982 and was one of four reactors in a nuclear power plant park on the banks of the Schelde. There are also three reactors in Tihange, in the province of Liège.
–
It will take years before the demolition of the building begins. First, the reactor is opened and the fuel rods are taken to a kind of bunker to cool them under water for five years. Only then does the actual decommissioning of the reactor begin. It should be completed by 2040.
–
‘Crack reactor’
Doel 3 was popularly known as a “crack reactor”. Due to deviations in the reactor vessel, the reactor was shut down for several years after 2012 and wear of the concrete was also observed thereafter.
–
According to the management of the Doel nuclear power plant, however, there have been no major problems in recent times. “We ran non-stop 365 days straight,” director Peter Moens told VRT. “Very few power plants in the world do this.”
–
Open for ten more years
The next nuclear reactor that the Belgian government wants to shut down is Tihange 2. This is expected to happen early next year.
–
The other reactors must be closed by 2025, with the exception of Tihange 3 and Doel 4. Due to the energy crisis, the government has decided in March that those two reactors will remain open for ten more years.
—
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/6U2DSW6GWFBOJDHZZO7AFZF7HM.jpg "Joe Biden hesitant and lost during a conference in New York: this sequence has gone viral")
