Nineteen communes in German, Dutch and Luxembourg border regions are getting themselves fired up to start legal action. This would force Electrabel and the regulator Agence Fédérale de Contrôle Nucléaire (AFCN - which promotes protection against ionising radiation) to close the nuclear reactor Tihange 2.
This information appears in Het Nieuwsblad and Het Belang van Limburg today (Thursday).
An Austrian study has sparked the debate, highlighting the risks which these regions would incur if a nuclear accident took place at Tihange.
The chances of seeing Limburg made uninhabitable after such an event would be of the order of 40 to 60%. This is the conclusion of experts at the Institute of Safety and Risk Science (ISRS), based in Vienna.
The region around Aarchen has a risk of the order of 10%. Local authorities consider that this is an unacceptable risk level.
Professor Wolfgang Renneberg, the former boss of the German monitoring organisation, states that risks persist around reactor safety at Tihange and Doel.
The producer Engie-Electrabel, is going out of its way to say that Belgian nuclear power stations are amongst the safest in the world.
Its spokeswoman, Geetha Keyaert, says “We have a large culture of safety within our organisation.”
She goes on, “Our colleagues are trained to prevent accidents.”
Ms Keyaert concludes, “Even the smallest changes give rise to a power station ceasing to operate at a given time.”
The Brussels Times
