Our conclusions regarding the safety of Doel 3 and Tihange

“Our conclusions regarding the safety of Doel 3 and Tihange 2 remain
unchanged, despite what Minister Hendricks says”
Brussels, 20th April 2016 - The FANC is surprised to learn that Barbara Hendricks (SPD), the German
Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), calls upon Belgium
to shut Doel 3 and Tihange 2 down again for an indefinite period of time. Her statement comes in
the aftermath of a meeting between the FANC and representatives of the BMU and the RSK
(Reaktor-Sicherheitskommission) on 5 and 6 April 2016 in Brussels. The points that were raised by
the German representatives during this meeting did not compromise the FANC’s point of view, nor
do Minister Hendrick’s statements. The FANC remains convinced that the Doel 3 and Tihange 2
comply with international safety standards and that there is no need to shut down these units
from a nuclear safety point of view.
In January 2016 the FANC already hosted a two-day international workshop in Brussels on the Doel 3
and Tihange 2 reactor pressure vessels for its foreign safety authority counterparts. About fifty
experts originating from fifteen countries (including Germany) took part in this meeting, along with
representatives from the European Union, the Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic
Energy Agency. During the workshop the German colleagues asked several questions, to which the
FANC provided a written answer on 18 February. These answers can be found on the FANC website.
In the first week of April another meeting was held, this time with the German colleagues of BMU
and RSK only. The goal of this meeting was to discuss a number of current issues, including Doel 3
and Tihange 2. Since the German representatives came up with more questions than expected, FANC
decided to extend the meeting in order to discuss and reply to all questions.
Director-General of the FANC Jan Bens explains: “Our German colleagues asked lots of questions, but
they did not raise any new issues that we had not taken into account during our review of the Doel 3
and Tihange 2 safety cases. Therefore we are still convinced that there is no need to shut down these
units from a nuclear safety point of view. Our conclusions remain unchanged, despite what Minister
Hendricks says.”
After hydrogen bubbles were discovered in the walls of the reactor pressure vessels of the Doel 3
and Tihange 2 nuclear power plants, the FANC set up a large-scale review process in order to collect
the opinions of various high-skilled and internationally renowned experts and laboratories. The
objective data, test results and reports that were gathered during this elaborate review process
convinced the FANC that the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactor units are safe for operation, despite the
presence of hydrogen flakes in the RPV walls. This conclusion was confirmed by international
external expert committees.
The FANC is willing to set up further cooperation initiatives with its German partner organisations if
they are willing to collaborate in a constructive fashion. Similar cooperation agreements already exist
between Belgium and France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxemburg. Jan Bens repeated his
earlier offer to Germany to organize cross-inspections, with German and Belgian experts carrying out
inspections in the Belgian and German NPPs together.

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