Belgium on Tuesday shut down its second nuclear reactor in four months in a bid to reduce the country’s reliance on nuclear energy.
The Tihange 2 reactor has long caused controversy in neighboring Germany. For years, German officials had cited safety concerns when they called for the 40-year-old plant to be shut down after cracks were discovered in its pressure vessels.
Belgium has postponed its plans to phase out the country’s nuclear power supply despite efforts in this direction.
The reactor is 50 kilometers from the border with Germany.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke told local media: “The closure of the plant guarantees significantly increased security in our two countries.”
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Why is the reactor being shut down?
Before midnight on Tuesday, the Tihange 2 reactor will be shut down as part of Belgium’s long-term effort to go nuclear.
Since 2003, Belgian law has required nuclear energy to be phased out. However, the government has delayed phasing out nuclear energy by a decade because Russia’s war against Ukraine has devastated European energy markets and caused prices to rise dramatically.
Belgium’s Green Party, part of the ruling coalition government, has opposed any delay in phasing out nuclear power from the country’s energy supply.
Last September, a first reactor was shut down near Antwerp.
What is the status of Belgium’s efforts to phase out nuclear power?
Belgium has also announced an agreement with Engie, a French company, to extend the life of two additional reactors by 10 years.
Brussels has relied on nuclear power for about half of the country’s energy needs.
Tihange 2 is the second of a total of seven reactors in Belgium that are scheduled to go offline by 2035.
The issue of nuclear power and the review of Germany’s decision to phase it out gained additional impetus in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and European sanctions on fossil fuel imports from Moscow.
ar/nm (AFP, dpa)