13 May (NucNet): The economic committee of the Belgian parliament last night approved the government’s plan for a 10-year lifetime extension of Electrabel’s Doel-1 and -2 nuclear units, the parliament said.
The parliamentary committee accepted the provisions related to the lifetime extension of the two nuclear units, but has not yet adopted the full text of the legislation. It will hold a final vote at a second reading on 26 May 2015, after which the legislation will have to be approved at a regular parliamentary session.
Belgium’s minister for energy, Marie-Christine Marghem, said the lifetime extensions will not be completed without a guarantee that they are safe.
Opposition parties voted against the extensions and challenged Ms Marghem on the legal basis for the proposals. Ms Marghem said the legal basis is sound and the final decision on whether the two units can continue to operate lies with the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (Fanc).
Media reports in Belgium said questions were raised during the debate regarding the safety of Doel-1, but did not give details of what these questions were. The questions will be discussed at the second reading, the reports said.
Doel-1 was shut down when its operating licence expired on 15 February 2015 and it reached its 40-year lifetime. Doel-2 will reach the end of its 40-year lifetime in December 2015.
In December 2014, the Belgian federal government agreed to extend the operating lifetimes of Doel-1 and Doel-2.
Doel-1 and -2 are both Westinghouse two-loop pressurised water reactor units with a net electrical capacity of 433 megawatts each. They began operation in February and December 1975.
