Belgium takes fourth nuclear reactor offline after fire

Electrabel (GDF SUEZ) has had to halt power generation at its Tihange-3 nuclear reactor near Liege (Belgium) after an electrical fire. The 1,008 MW unit was automatically disconnected from the grid; it was restarted during the night, on 2 December 2014.

This raised the number of offline nuclear reactors to four, as Doel-3 (1,006 MW) and Tihange-2 (1,008 MW) have been idled since March 2014 due to cracks in the steel reactor casings (the units had already been taken offline from June 2012 to June 2013). In August 2014, Doel 4 (1,039 MW) was shut down automatically in accordance with safety procedures, following a loss of lubricating oil in the steam turbine located in the non-nuclear part of the plant. Belgium had then three operational nuclear plants, Doel-1 and Doel-2 (433 MW each) and Tihange-1 (962 MW). The rapid restart of Tihange-3 eased concerns on insufficient capacities to meet electricity demand in the case of a cold winter.