Dutch minister says 2035 target unrealistic for operation of first new large reactor

The Dutch minister responsible for preparations to build an initial two, and eventually up to four, large reactors, Sophie Hermans, has said that the target of having a first unit operational by 2035 is "no longer realistic" because of delays in the site selection process.

Hermans, minister for Environment and Green Growth, said in a Feb. 11 written response to questions from pro-nuclear lower house of parliament member and fellow member of the Free and Democracy Party Silvio Erkens, that: "It is the case that the site selection process will take longer. What this delay means for the final construction and delivery of the two reactors is not possible to say at the moment."

Hermans also confirmed that the government goal of finalizing the selection of a location for the first two large reactors by the middle of this year is now not envisaged by the end of 2025.

Hermans explained in a separate Feb. 11 letter to the Dutch lower house that the government felt obliged to add another possible location, Eemshaven, on the north Netherlands coast, to the existing three locations being considered for two large reactors. Each unit is to have a capacity of up to 1,650 MW.

The government did not want to add Eemshaven to the list — already comprising the Netherland's sole nuclear reactor site, Borssele; Maasvlakte, a massive area of reclaimed land at the port of Rotterdam; and Terneuzen, a port city in the southwest of the Netherlands. However the government felt obliged to do so after a warning from the Dutch attorney general, which noted that the whole site selection process risked being open to successful challenge in the highest Dutch court, the Council of State, if Eemshaven were excluded.

If no realistic nuclear sites are found around Eemshaven, then it will be dropped as a possibility as soon as possible, Hermans said.

"The Cabinet will as fast as possible this year to outline which sites will be subject to further investigation," Hermans added in the letter to Erkens. Legal certainty over the selection process is needed not just for the first two reactors, but also the follow-up pair of reactors which the current government has said it plans to build, Hermans said.

Eemshave has been earmarked as a possible location for new reactors since 1985 but there is strong public and local administration opposition to a nuclear plant being located there, partly fueled by the damage to the Groningen region caused by natural gas production.

Hermans was asked to explain delays to the preparations for building two new reactors and say what steps she had taken since becoming environment minister last July during a four-hour lower house environmental committee debate over nuclear energy Feb. 12.

Hermans said during the meeting that it had taken her time to familiarize herself with the nuclear dossier and the ministry also had to get up to speed due its relative inexperience with the issue. Hermans' promised to update the lower house on specific measures proposed to speed up the preparatory process for construction of two reactors during a further update in April or May.

Diversion of nuclear funds proposed

The committee meeting witnessed one government coalition party, the Farmer-Citizen Movement, combining with opposition parties — some traditionally anti-nuclear and others pro-nuclear — in calling for climate transition funds earmarked for the nuclear preparations to be redirected to aid to hard-pressed Dutch farmers.

Geert Wilders, leader of the government coalition's biggest party, the Freedom Party, described the idea of transferring funds as "interesting," adding that the climate funds might also be used to cut overall energy prices.

Environment committee member Erkens warned during the committee meeting that the climate fund now stands at Eur14.6 billion ($15.3 billion), with Eur14.1 billion of that earmarked for nuclear preparations and reactor construction. If a proposed Eur5 billion were diverted to help farmers, most of this would be at the expense of the nuclear budget, he added.

Hermans rejected the demands to raid the nuclear budget. "I am working on the goals set out in the main coalition government agreement for climate and energy and to achieve our ambitions for nuclear power. That is what I am working on," she told the committee. The issue could well be raised again in the Dutch parliament.

When the same issue of shifting funds from the nuclear budget was raised in the upper house of parliament Feb.11, Hermans warned that this could send the wrong signal to potential nuclear technology vendors and might provoke their withdrawal from ongoing preparations to build two reactors.

"It is very important for us to be able to talk to as many constructors as possible, both to get the best commercial conditions as possible and to mitigate the risks in the process as much as possible," she said.

Three potential technology vendors, Westinghouse, EDF and South Korea's Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power have provided the Dutch government with technical feasibility studies over how their reactor designs might be built at the preferred Borssele site. US engineering company Amentum was selected by the Dutch government in November to carry out an independent evaluation of the vendors' studies.