The aging nuclear power plant where 16,000 cracks have been found is still in operation

Tianju Nuclear Power Plant ( Nuclear Power Plant) is an old nuclear power plant operating in central Belgium for over 40 years. The Belgian government still decided to continue operation even though the operation has been halted twice due to the aging of the building. Meanwhile, we received great opposition from local residents. Belgian media Zeit Onine is summarizing the controversies over Tianju Nuclear Power Plant.

Tihange Nuclear Power Plant: Fear of a Meltdown | ZEIT ONLINE
https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2018-06/tihange-nuclear-power-plant-residents-opposition-english/komplettansicht

Ultrasonic flaw detection tests were conducted on the nuclear reactors of Tianju Nuclear Power Plant and Dole Nuclear Power Plant in 2012. As a result, cracks were found in the pressure vessel of Tianju Nuclear Power Plant No. 2 and Dole Nuclear Power Plant No. 3, and operation stopped It was.

The reactor pressure vessel is a container to contain the core of the nuclear reactor, and hermetically closes and blocks radioactive materials and radiation so as not to leak out of the furnace while withstanding high temperature and high pressure. If cracks in the pressure vessel are left unchecked, it could rupture and cause the worst nuclear accident of scattering radioactive material around it. In the study of the University of Vienna, if the nuclear reactor of Tianju nuclear power plant ruptured, the leaked radioactive material was blown to the westerly wind and was expected to cause serious radiation damage to the adjacent Germany.

Located near the border between Belgium and Germany, the city Aachen , about 60 km east of the Tianju Nuclear Power Plant, is threatened by nuclear accident by Tianju Nuclear Power Plant. As a result, Aachen has been known as a city where anti-nuclear movement is deeply rooted especially in Germany around the 1980s, and throughout the city there are yellow posters and stickers appealing for protests against Tianju Nuclear Power Plant It is said that it is.

Two nuclear reactors stopped in operation resumed operation in 2013, but in March 2014 the crash was found at 16,000 places in the durability test of the facility, so we stopped driving again. Citizens of Aachen appealed not to resume operation of these two reactors again. However, the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FANC) in Belgium authorized to resume operation of the Tianju nuclear power plant No. 2 in November 2015.

French nuclear enterprise operating companies Electrabel and FANC said, "As a result of inspections, cracks found in nuclear reactors are due to hydrogen bubbles that occurred during the forging process, not due to the operation of the power plant" The increase in the number of cracks found in the test results is the result of improving the sensitivity of the test equipment used for testing. " In addition, Electrabel spokesperson said, "Nuclear power plant has more than 50 independent audits every year", "Plant safety and safety of 2000 employees are top priority" doing.

by maol

Belgium agreed in 2003 to tackle the phased abolition of nuclear power generation. However, substitute energy corresponding to the nuclear power generation was not found, and as a result, Tianju Nuclear Power Plant and Dole power plant are still covering about 50% of Belgium's electricity demand as of 2018 as a result. Helmut Etschenberg, an Aachen city councilor who opposed nuclear power generation, estimates that the No. 2 reactor of Tianju nuclear power plant produces nearly 1 million euros (about 126 million yen) per day, the Belgian government We claim that we are continuing the operation of nuclear reactors following the profits.

Etschenberg also believes that the government's decision to run the Tianju nuclear power plant No. 2 is based on strong lobbying by nuclear promoters, especially former employees of Electrabel until the end of April 2018 FANC It is said that Jan Bens who served as secretary of the company is greatly affected. Mr. Bens has consistently claimed that "cracks are harmless and nuclear reactors are safe", Etschenberg claims that Bens is taking bribes against newspaper interviews And pointed out the adhesion between FANC and Electrabel.

In 2016 Etschenberg asked FANC to send a copy of the official document with the signature of King Belgium permitting restart of the reactor. Etschenberg commented, "We suspect that there is no official document." In the same year, the Aachen City Council led by Etschenberg filed two cases in Belgium. Plaintiffs had 130 cities and small countries such as Gelsenkirchen and Luxembourg .

by DIE LINKE Nordrhein-Westfalen

Also, representatives of the International Nuclear Power Risk Assessment Group (INRAG) analyzed cracks in the reactor pressure vessel, explained the risk of meltdown and the effects of radioactive fallout using meteorological data, We are requesting closure of No. 2 furnace. Wolfgang Renneberg, a physicist, said the problem with Tianju nuclear power plant No. 2 is the worst case among the cases I encountered. We should halt operation of this nuclear reactor immediately ".

Thanks to these opposition movements, not only in Aachen but also in Belgium and Germany, the momentum of anti-nuclear energy is increasing. And the Belgian Tianju Nuclear Power Plant decided to complete the operation completely in 2025, and in Germany the movement to step out the nuclear power generation in stages by 2022 is born. Etschenberg commented that "pressure on nuclear power is rising, which is a huge success."