FANC criticizes the government’s loss of time over the decision to keep nuclear power stations open longer Inland

The FANC emphasizes that three green lights must be given for a decision on extending the life of a nuclear reactor. “Firstly, a clear political decision is needed, in addition, the operator must be willing to participate and thirdly, the nuclear safety authorities must give their approval,” says Wertelaers.

According to her, making such a decision takes years of preparation time. “The operator must have its engineers carry out safety studies. These must then result in safety improvements that still have to be realised,” says Wertelaers. “The safety equipment of a nuclear power plant must be specially designed and produced and must meet very strict criteria. This takes time. (…) And time pressure is a risk, especially in the nuclear sector.”

Wertelaers emphasizes that manager Engie Electrabel had in the past urged the government to make a decision by the end of 2020. , from that work and let them work on the preparations for a dismantling.Neither Engie Electrabel nor the FANC have worked on an LTO scenario in 2021. Nothing more happened that year. And then suddenly the end of December comes after all. that question from the government. (…) You can’t make up for that lost time.”

Wertelaers says that Engie Electrabel’s position has always been that the operator only starts preparatory work for an LTO if he has an agreement with the government. In March, the federal government decided to extend the service life of the Tihange 3 and Doel 4 reactors by ten years, until 2035, in order to maintain a nuclear production capacity of 2 gigawatts. At the end of July, the government announced that a first agreement in principle had been reached between the state and Engie Electrabel on the extension of the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 nuclear power plants.

With regard to the progress in the file concerning Doel 4 and Tihange 3, Wertelaers indicates that the first interactions have taken place between the FANC and Engie Electrabel in mid-September. “We are off the starting blocks, but we are certainly not at cruising speed yet.”

As for a possible LTO for other reactors, she emphasizes that “the same conditions apply: three green light”. “In addition, it concerns older reactors, with a design from the 1960s-1970s. This will require an even greater effort to make them pass an LTO. This will require years of preparation. We are nowhere in that file.”

Wertelaers also returned to a question from the government about the possibility of extending the closure of reactor Tihange 2, which is planned for 1 February 2023, over the winter and postponing it until the end of March. “Engie Electrabel has investigated this and for safety, technical and organizational reasons has decided that this is not feasible. (…) The FANC has also come to the conclusion that this scenario could have a drastic impact on nuclear safety and cannot allow this under these circumstances,” said the director. For reactor Doel 3, the position of the nuclear watchdog is “analogous”, it says.

Since the subcommittee on nuclear safety could not be completed on Tuesday in the foreseen time frame, it was decided by the chairman to schedule an additional committee, during which the management of the FANC will be able to answer the many questions asked by MPs on Tuesday. .

For example, further questions were asked about the reason for the unplanned shutdown of Doel 2 and Tihange 3 this month. The latter would have involved electromagnetic interference. That would indicate human error, where someone had a mobile phone with them in an area where that is not allowed.

Also see: Agreement in principle on the extension of two nuclear power plants