The German government’s Environment Minister, Barbara Hendricks, is on the record saying she “shares” public concern, but only the Belgian government can decide against the opening of the plant, DW reports.
Meanwhile, to underline how serious the concern is, Aachen’s university clinic keeps in store 300,000 iodine tablets to ward off thyroid cancer should radioactivity ever leak. The Dutch government, concerned for the city of Maastricht, has also protested the use of the plant.
Electrabel started Tihange’s number 2 reactor, despite hair-line cracks, and “Doel 3” reactor in northern Belgium on Monday.
Saarland and Rhineland Palatinate are also nervous of other junk plants, such as Cattenom, the third largest nuclear power plant in France. In that plant next to Mosel river there was in fact a leak in September and October 2015, but EDF claims there was no danger at all. France wants to scale down its dependence to nuclear energy from 75% to 50% by 2025.
More about:
