Leading Greens MEP Rebecca Harms has called for the decommissioning of a Belgian nuclear reactor as it no longer meets international safety standards. Harms said that Belgian authorities should shut down the country’s oldest nuclear reactor, Tihange 1, 43 years after it began operations, given that almost no Belgian reactors are connected to the grid. “The reactor’s design is hopelessly outdated and no longer meets today’s international safety requirements. It seems impossible to retrofit the old reactor to bring it up to the state of the art in science and technology.” Harms’ demand coincides with the publication of a damning new study on the risks of the continued operation of Tihange 1. The author of the study, reactor safety expert Prof Manfred Mertins, presented the findings at a news briefing in the European Parliament. He told reporters he has raised “serious doubts” concerning the plant’s accident safety. The academic came to the conclusion that the continued operation of Tihange 1 due to “outdated reactor design, inadequate safety management and the accumulation of frequent unplanned events represents a potential danger for the site and its surroundings.” It was particularly critical “that the results of international tests and current safety standards are not adequately taken into account.”
The Parliament Magazine 11th Dec 2018 read more »