BRUSSELS—Belgium has halted one of its seven nuclear reactors on suspicion that one of its components might be cracked, the country's atomic power regulator said Wednesday.
"We have found anomalies," said Karina De Beule, spokesman for the ACFN, the federal agency for nuclear control. The agency is "evaluating these anomalies, if they can cause cracks," Ms. De Beule said, adding that the 1,006-megawatt Doel 3 reactor will remain shut at least until the end of August.
France's GDF Suez has paid the Belgian government a 2010 nuclear tax payment of Eur212 million ($276 million), a company spokeswoman said Thursday.
Through its subsidiary Electrabel, GDF Suez operates almost all of Belgium's 5.9 GW of nuclear capacity.
BRUSSELS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Belgium may extend the lifetimes of its three oldest nuclear power stations by ten years to 2025 to guard against energy shortages, newspaper De Standaard reported on Friday.
The plants, two in Doel near the northern city of Antwerp and one in Tihange in southeastern Belgium, are due to close in 2015.
But Energy Minister Paul Magnette will submit a report to the government on Friday that concludes Belgium will face energy supply problems if the plants close on schedule, De Standaard said.
Belgian section of the environmental organisation Greenpeace has been fined following a protest at Doel power station
The Belgian section of the environmental organisation Greenpeace has been fined following a protest at Doel power station in East Flanders.
