Nuclear power plants and radioactivity. Recently they have both been in the news again. But what about in the Netherlands? Are there active nuclear power plants in the Netherlands and where are they located? And is there radioactive material on Dutch soil? Should we be concerned about this?
Radioactivity in the Netherlands
You don’t smell it and you don’t taste it: radioactivity. The Netherlands has a number of hotspots where radiation is central. Most people immediately think of nuclear power plants when they think of radioactivity. But radioactive waste has also been dumped in the Netherlands in the past. Where did this go? And not to forget that during the Cold War rumors arose that there were nuclear weapons on Dutch soil. Below we list all the well-known and lesser-known nuclear sites in our country.
Nuclear sites in the Netherlands
The seabed
Nowadays, radioactive waste is stored in secure bunkers. Not in the past. Then the barrels containing radioactive waste were simply thrown into the sea. In 1967, the Netherlands took part in an organized manner. The barrels ended up in a 4 kilometer deep gorge in the Atlantic Ocean, 750 kilometers northwest of Spain.
The risks of this were great. Metal barrels cannot withstand salty seawater. They continue to rust, after which the waste spreads in the water. The fish die from it, or they end up radioactive on your plate. Since 1975, treaties have prohibited high-level waste (for example from nuclear power stations) from being dumped at sea. And since 1983, you are not allowed to throw low-level waste (such as from hospitals) into the sea. It was not until 1994 that there was a global ban on the dumping of any radioactive material. But what has been dumped all these years remains there.
Hats
Since 1955, Petten has had a reactor belonging to the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN). The so-called high flux reactor (HFR) is located in these dunes of Petten. It is not intended for generating nuclear energy, but for conducting experiments that should make nuclear power plants safer and more efficient. The HFR therefore has similar conditions as in a real nuclear power plant. In addition, the HFR makes radioactive substances for medical purposes, such as the irradiation of cancer tumors. About 60% of all radioactive medicines used in Europe come from Petten.
However, this research center also entails risks. Unsafe situations occurred more than once in the HFR. The most serious incident took place on November 16, 2001. The power went out for several minutes and the emergency cooling system did not work. That could have led to a so-called meltdown. Then the reactor core is so hot that it melts into the ground, making the environment and groundwater radioactive. Until 2006, the HFR used highly enriched uranium. But for safety reasons, the reactor has been made suitable for low-enriched uranium.
Almelo
The Urenco uranium enrichment factory has been located in Almelo since 1973. Nuclear power plants generate energy by bombarding uranium atomic nuclei. But that is not possible with ordinary uranium. That contains different types of atomic nuclei, called U-235 and U-238. The uranium in nuclear power plants must consist of at least 4 percent U-235 nuclei. That is more than it naturally contains. Therefore, uranium must first be enriched. This is done in Almelo in Ultracentrifuges, which extract U-238 from natural uranium. Because the U-235 remains behind, its percentage increases. Then it is enriched uranium.
If you put enriched uranium in the centrifuge a few more times, the percentage of U-235 increases even more, and you get highly enriched uranium. That’s what you use to make nuclear weapons. High enrichment does not happen in Almelo. But the available knowledge and technology is an attraction for terrorists who want to make an atomic bomb. From 1972 to 1975, the Pakistani spy Abdul Qadir Khan contributed to the construction of the Almelose factory. With its knowledge of centrifuges, Pakistan developed nuclear weapons, which were first tested in 1998. According to some sources, Khan also sold his secret knowledge to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Borssele
There has been a nuclear power plant in Borssele since 1973. As discussed earlier, a nuclear power plant generates energy from atomic nuclei of the uranium variant U-235. The process starts by firing a neutron at the sun’s core. If it hits, the atom falls apart. Or better: it is split into a few smaller atoms. This also releases 2 or 3 new neutrons and a lot of heat. If all goes well, the new neutrons will in turn split other U-235 nuclei. Etcetera. This can trigger a so-called chain reaction: atomic nuclei are continuously split, so that heat is continuously produced (until the uranium runs out). The heat brings water to a boil. The steam sets a turbine in motion, which drives an electrical generator. Borssele supplies the electricity grid with 485 megawatts. That is about the same as a normal power plant that generates electricity with coal or natural gas.
Nuclear power plants are under very strict supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). However, that is no guarantee that everything will go well . For example, human error led to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in 1986. But the Borssele power plant is of a different type, where the chance of an explosion is considered negligible.
Nuclear power plants themselves do not emit carbon dioxide. This is an important reason for the government to keep the Borssele power plant open for the time being. But mining, transporting and enriching uranium ore does run on fossil fuels, which simply release carbon dioxide. Nuclear energy is therefore not completely carbon dioxide-free, but its emissions are much less than the amount that other power stations release into the atmosphere.
Vlissingen
All radioactive waste is stored in Vlissingen. COVRA sorts this into low, medium and high radioactive waste. The first two categories include laboratory waste and contaminated scrap. If you touch it, it is not immediately dangerous. The waste goes into metal cans, is then rolled flat and poured into concrete. In 100 years, two-thirds of this waste will be almost completely radiated. Highly radioactive waste, for example from nuclear power stations, is a different story. This is melted in a special type of glass and stored in steel barrels. These must be cooled for years, because the material also radiates heat due to its high radioactivity. And only after about 100,000 years has the radiation from the waste decreased so much that it has become harmless.
Risks? No. COVRA’s storage bunkers are just about the most secure places in the Netherlands. The 1.7 meter thick concrete walls protect the environment from waste. Conversely, they also protect the waste from the environment, where miscreants, earthquakes and crashing aircraft can cause a lot of misery. COVRA expects to be able to capture radioactive waste for another 100 years. Another solution must have been found by then. The most obvious permanent storage places in our country are underground clay or salt layers. They are stable and block radiation.
Rotterdam
When you think of radioactivity, you don’t immediately picture a Rotterdam scrap processor. Yet radiation is the order of the day at the Jewometaal company. As one of the largest collectors of stainless steel in the world, the company regularly comes into contact with it. Since 1992, targeted searches have been carried out for radioactivity in the waste, but before then it was probably already present unnoticed. The alarm goes off more than 100 times every year. According to the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), more than two million radioactive objects have been registered worldwide. Of these, 200 to 400 disappear every year, such as items from demolished African hospitals. If it ends up at metal processors such as Jewometaal, it will be removed. Unfortunately, the company’s measuring equipment is lacking elsewhere in the world. As a result, radioactive material is recycled unnoticed. That is dangerous. For example, Dutch customs discovered a shipment of radioactive handbags in 2007. These turned out to come from India, where contaminated steel had been used in the bags.
Delft
TU Delft has the Higher Education Reactor (HOR). It produces neutrons and positrons for scientific experiments. A positron is so-called antimatter, the opposite of normal matter. In theory you can generate a lot of sustainable energy with normal and antimatter. But the positrons are also important for the development of new solar cells and in research into hydrogen storage. The HOR is also used for new techniques to combat cancer.
Nothing has ever gone wrong with this type of reactor. Like most of the research reactors in the world, the reactor in Delft has been switched from high to low enriched uranium, which cannot be used to make weapons.
Volkel
The Ministry of Defense has never confirmed the rumors, but never denied them either. And the US makes no secret of the fact that there is a specially trained unit of 140 men at Volkel air base that deals with the management of nuclear warheads. In short: there have been nuclear weapons at this Brabant air base, reportedly since the Cold War. This would involve 10 to 20 B61 nuclear weapons. These are part of the standard nuclear armament of the F-16. The weapon has extremely penetrating power. Before it explodes, it can penetrate several meters into the ground and hit underground shelters. The US manages the B61s, but they are intended for Dutch aircraft. They have a nuclear weapons task in NATO.
However, this also entails risks. For example, in 2009 two activists entered the base unnoticed. One of them spent an hour in the control tower. But the bunker with the nuclear weapons remained out of their reach. The question is which enemy the Volkel nuclear warheads are intended for. The tanks of an F-16 are empty after 2,700 kilometers. They do not go further than 1350 kilometers, but within that radius there are only EU member states.