The federal government does not only want to extend Doel 4 and Tihange 3 of 20 years instead of ten, it also wants an extension of the Tihange 1 nuclear reactor, whose closure is scheduled for October 1, we read Tuesday in Echo and Tijd.
The Minister of Energy Mathieu Bihet (MR) would like to start negotiations with Engie Electrabel and EDF/Luminus on an extension of ten years in this unit, which belongs to the first of these two companies, and for 50% to the second. However, it is planned that the reactor will be definitively set up on October 1, after an extension of ten years, decided in 2013.
The task is not easy for Minister Bihet. After the agreement concluded with the Croo government on the extension for ten years of Doel 4 and Tihange 3, the Engie group repeats in all the languages it wants to turn the page on nuclear. And even if the government has an attentive ear at EDF/Luminus or other nuclear stakeholders, once again extend this reactor is far from obvious, especially for network issues to be reinforced but above all for nuclear security issues. In the best of cases, Tihange 1 should in any case be arrested for a long time.
