Belgium’s Federal Government now not only wants to extend the working life of the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 nuclear reactors by another decade. Tuesday’s edition of the financial daily ‘De Tijd’ reports that it also hopes to keep the Tihange 1 reactor open beyond its planned closure date later this year. However, the company that operates Belgium’s 2 nuclear powers station at Doel in East Flanders and Tihange in Liège Province, Engie, the energy grid operator Elia and nuclear watchdog FANC remain sceptical.
Federal Government wants to extend the working life of another of the country’s nuclear reactors
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‘De Tijd’ says that the Federal Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet (Francophone liberal) plans to open talks with Engie and EDF Luminus about prolonging the working life of the Tihange 1 reactor by another 10 years. However, unlike the agreement reached by the previous government to keep the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 reactors running until 2035, prolonging the working life of Tihange 1 is far from straightforward.
The reactor’s lifespan has been extended by 10 years once before. Engie is reluctant to consider further extension for Tihange 1.
Even if Mr Bihet gets his way, the Tihange 1 reactor would need to shut down for several years before a possible restart. Safety upgrades would be required, and the high-voltage grid around Liège will no longer be equipped to handle the reactor’s output after this year.
The grid management company Elia is assessing what reinforcements to the grid would be needed. However, it has warned that they would not be ready until 2031 or 2032.
Safety review
The nuclear watchdog FANC has also made it clear that the reactor would first have to undergo a full 10-year safety review before resuming production.
That process has not even begun and would take several years to complete and that would require an investment of several billion euro.