2023-11-29 09:34:20
The next government should consider extending Doel 4 and Tihange 3 for twenty years, says Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld). A new lifespan extension of Tihange 1 could also be on the agenda, it sounds. However, according to Groen co-chairman Jeremie Vaneeckhout, this is “not an issue”.
The current government is currently reviewing the final details in negotiations with Engie regarding the lifespan extension of Doel 4 and Tihange 3, the two youngest nuclear reactors. But for Prime Minister Alexander De Croo it does not have to stop there, the Mediahuis newspapers wrote on Wednesday.
“An extension of ten years is much more than anyone expected,” De Croo said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the European Business Summit, an organization that wants to bring politics and the business world together. “But we should certainly consider an extension of twenty years. That’s something for the next federal government. The current one will not go beyond ten years.”
De Croo also reopens the debate about Tihange 1. That reactor, which will be fifty years old in 2025, was previously mentioned for a possible new lifespan extension. The Prime Minister wants to have the reactors re-examined, but realizes that this analysis will be less favorable, as there is a risk of a problem with the high voltage and the reactor does not meet the latest safety requirements.
The other reactors are either already closed – Doel 3 and Tihange 2 – or, according to De Croo, they are technically very difficult to extend. That is the case for Objectives 1 and 2.
“Irrelevant”
“The coalition agreement is clear and what Alexander De Croo is proposing is not an issue,” responds Groen co-chairman Jeremie Vaneeckhout. According to him, the government must “finalize the legal basis of the current extension.” “And what this and the next government must do is, first and foremost, to accelerate the transition to renewable energy. That is the cheapest energy available, it poses no health risks and it is the only one that continues to fall in price,” it said.
The Green co-chairman is also clear about Tihange 1: “To extend the lifespan of Tihange 1, there are technical problems and safety standards would have to be lowered. That is not an option for us. We do not play with people’s health and safety. This applies to Tihange 1 and will always be the basis when others make balloons about the lifespan extensions of other reactors.”
LOOK. In June, Engie and the government reached an agreement on an extension of the Tihange 3 and Doel 4 nuclear reactors
READ ALSO. The restart of the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 nuclear reactors will be a race against time: what is still planned?(+)
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