Belgian Nuclear Plant Reactor Shuts Down

The first of four units at Belgium's Doel Nuclear Power Station went offline due to unknown causes less than a week after restarting, local media cited the plant's spokesman as saying.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Doel 1 was automatically shut down late Saturday north of Antwerp, Doel communications manager Els De Clercq was cited as saying by the RTL broadcaster.

The plant's operating company Electrabel is said to be planning a restart by Wednesday, January 6.

Early on December 25, a hot water leak in a non-nuclear section of a Doel 3 steam generator shut down the unit four days after it went back online following 21 months of tests.

Two of Doel's 40-year-old reactors were planned to be decommissioned in 2015, but the Belgian government has extended their service into 2025. Environmental activists and regional authorities in neighboring Germany have expressed opposition to the move.