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Tihange Nuclear Power Station

Coordinates: 50°31′58″N 5°16′32″E / 50.5328°N 5.2756°E / 50.5328; 5.2756
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Tihange Nuclear Power Station
Map
CountryBelgium
LocationHuy
Coordinates50°31′58″N 5°16′32″E / 50.5328°N 5.2756°E / 50.5328; 5.2756
StatusOperational
Construction began1970
Commission date1 October 1975
OwnerElectrabel
Nuclear power station
Reactor typepressurized water reactors
Reactor supplierACLF, FRAMACEC,ACECOWEN
Power generation
Units operational1 x 962 MW
1 x 1008 MW
1 x 1015 MW
Nameplate capacity2,985 MW
Annual net output23 TWh
External links
Websitenuclear.engie-electrabel.be/fr/powerplant/la-centrale-nucleaire-de-tihange
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]
The plant seen from fr [Ampsin] station
Tihange nuclear power plant seen from the fortress of Huy

The Tihange Nuclear Power Station is one of the two large-scale nuclear power plants in Belgium, the other being Doel Nuclear Power Station. It is located on the right bank of the Meuse River in the Belgian district of Tihange, part of Huy municipality in the Walloon province of Liège. The primary stakeholder in the plant is the Belgian energy company Electrabel.

Reactors

The plant has three pressurized water reactors, with a total capacity of 2985 MWe and makes up 52% of the total Belgian nuclear generating capacity.[1] Its units are rated as follows:

  • Tihange 1: 962 MWe (1975)
  • Tihange 2: 1008 MWe (1983)
  • Tihange 3: 1015 MWe (1985)

The reactors were supplied by different consortia, respectively ACLF (ACECOWEN-Creusot-Loire-Framatome), FRAMACECO (Framatome-ACEC-Cockerill), ACECOWEN (ACEC-Cockerill-Westinghouse).[2]

The units were designed for an operational lifetime of 30 years. In 2003, a Belgian law concerning the closure of the Belgian nuclear reactors permitted an operational lifetime of 40 years for the three reactors in Tihange. On July 4, 2012, however, the Belgian government decided that Tihange 1 could be operated until 2025.

No filters present in the high pressure valves of the reactor vessels

In answer at questions of die Grünen in the Bundestag, the German parliament, the German government replied that in all outdated Belgian nuclear power plants no filtered pressure relief valves were installed. In German nuclear reactors these were already built in after the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in 1986, other countries followed this example around or after 2011, after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. This kind of filters should prevent radioactive air to leave the pressure vessel unfiltered. According to the German Government the nuclear reactors in Doel are missing these emergency pressure filters too. [3] This news caused quite some unrest in the national and local press around these nuclear reactors. [4][5][6][7][8]

Incidents

On November 22, 2002, an incident occurred in Block 2 (INES 2). The reactor was shut down at this time and no longer critical. However it remained necessary for decay heat to be removed from the reactor by circulating coolant. The November 22 incident involved accidental opening of a pressure relief valve. This caused the high pressure primary coolant circuit to rapidly depressurize, therefore reducing the ability of the circuit to remove heat from the reactor (the high pressure prevents the coolant - water - from boiling), leading to possible reactor overheating and eventual meltdown. The pressure relief valve was closed again after three minutes.

On September 3, 2008 a malfunctioning fan was found in a reactor. This was classified as INES-1.[9] Also, in 2005 and 2002 there were two INES-2 incidents. And in 2001 and 1993 there were fires on the site of the nuclear power plant. Those were classified as level 0.[10]

Since 2006 there has been a leak of 0.5-2 liters per day of mildly radioactive water from a deactivation-bath.[11] After this was notified to the nl [Belgium Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC)] Electrabel tried to find the cause of the leak. But on 11 July 2012 it became apparent that the leakage still exists. According to FANC this issue is "under control" and no radioactivity leaks outside the buildings.[12]

September 1, 2012, it became known that the Tihange 2 reactor shows signs of erosion weakening of the outer reinforced concrete mantle up to a depth of 0.3 m. Electrabel and the Belgian nuclear regulator FANC deny any immediate security risk since the reactor was already shut down for maintenance.[13]

February 23, 2015, Dutch newspaper reports on thousands of cracks well up to 6 cm according to Federaal Agentschap voor Nucleaire Controle (FANC).[14] Actual discussion still assumes the reactor to be turned on in July again. This did not happen, and in September 2015 the unit is still offline pending further investigation.

Security

During the 2016 Brussels bombings, the Tihange facility was evacuated.[15] De man werkte als bewaker bij het Nationaal Instituut voor Radio-elementen (IRE) in Fleurus

Early in the evening of 25 march 2016 a safety officer of National Institute of Radio-elements (IRE) in Fleurus died in a shooting when he walked with his dog. His security cards were stolen. This card allowed entrance to lots of critical nuclear places inside Belgium. [16] [17] [18] The cards were deactivated shorly after the killing was discovered.

Medio February 2016 it was discovered that a secret webcamera had been placed by terrorists to observe the home of the director of SCK in Mol, the Belgium nuclear research project. A 10 hour video was found. [19]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20110604114210/http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/db.page.pl/pris.powrea.htm?country=BE&sort=&sortlong=Alphabetic. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2008. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Nuclear Power Reactors in the World" (PDF). IAEA. 2007.
  3. ^ AD (11 maart 2016 )Belgische kernreactoren missen benodigde filters
  4. ^ omroep brabant (11 maart 2016) [ http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/?news/2457841173/Kernreactor+Doel+mist+belangrijk+onderdeel+dat+radioactieve+straling+filtert.aspx Kernreactor Doel mist belangrijk onderdeel dat radioactieve straling filtert]
  5. ^ Nu.nl (11 maart 2016) duitsland zegt dat belgische kernreactoren filters missen
  6. ^ ravage-webzine.nl (11 maart 2016) geen filters in belgische kerncentrales
  7. ^ 4nieuws.nl (11 maart 2016) duitsland zegt dat belgische kernreactoren filters missen
  8. ^ 1limburg (11 maart 2016) Duitse regering: Belgische kernreactoren missen filters
  9. ^ "Archives - lesoir.be". Archives.lesoir.be. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
  10. ^ "Tihange - Nuclear power in Europe". climatesceptics.org.
  11. ^ Joeri Vlemings, Steffi Ophalvens. "Al zes jaar radioactief lek in Tihange". HLN (in Dutch).
  12. ^ Gilles Toussaint. "Tihange: une fuite radioactive non résolue depuis 10 ans". lalibre.be.
  13. ^ "Actualité - Belgique - lesoir.be". lesoir.be.
  14. ^ "Scheuren tot 6 centimeter in reactorvat Tihange" (in Dutch).
  15. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/brussels-attacks-ibrahim-khalid-bakraoui-plot-belgium-nuclear-abdeslam/
  16. ^ AD.nl (26-02-2016) safety officer of nuclear plants in Belgium killed
  17. ^ Ad.nl (26-03-2016) Killed safety officer did not work at nuclear power plants
  18. ^ DHnet (26-03-2016) safety officer killed in Charleroi
  19. ^ AD.nl (17-02-2016)Terrorist spied on nuclear top officer
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nuclear power plant, Tihange.
  • Belgian, Dutch, German alliance against the NPP Tihange stop-tihange.org
  • Site Electrabel regarding the nuclear plants in Doel and Tihange Electrabel
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