|
|
|
Netherlands
|
|
Number of nuclear units connected to the grid |
Nuclear electricity generation (net TWh) |
Nuclear percentage
of total electricity supply |
|
| Netherlands |
1 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
| OECD Europe |
145 |
879.6 |
25.8 |
|
OECD TOTAL |
346 (out of 439 worldwide) |
2172.5 |
21.6 |
Table 1. Status of Nuclear Power Plants
|
Station |
Type |
Capacity |
Operator |
Status |
Reactor Supplier |
Construction Date |
Criticality |
Grid Date |
Commercial Date |
Shutdown
|
|
BORSSELE |
PWR |
449 |
EPZ |
Operational |
KWU/STORK |
01-Jul-69 |
20-Jun-73 |
04-Jul-73 |
26-Oct-73 |
End 2003 |
|
DODEWAARD |
BWR |
55 |
GKN(NL) |
Shut Down |
GE/STORK |
01-May-65 |
24-Jun-68 |
18-Oct-68 |
15-Jan-69 |
26-Mar-1997 |
The main purpose of the Dodewaard nuclear power plant was to conduct nuclear experiments for commercial applications. The Dodewaard plant was the only reactor in the world which was cooled by natural circulation. It made the plant most suitable for verification experiments on a commercial scale.
In the Netherlands, nuclear energy is used exclusively for producing electricity. Compared with countries such as Belgium and France, nuclear energy plays a modest role in the Netherlands. In evaluating the desirability of nuclear energy, the Netherlands considers the environmental effects as well as aspects of risk, safety and the problem of radioactive waste. This means studying the effects of the entire fuel cycle. Such a study has shown that there are no factors present which might prohibit the use of nuclear energy in the Netherlands.
Even though Dutch public attitude toward nuclear energy indicates opposition to the construction of new nuclear power plants, there are differing views on nuclear energy as an option in itself. Demand for new centralised power plants in the next ten years is not foreseen. However, each electricity generating option poses its own problems. The availability of information on these problems tends to influence public opinion.
The intervening ten year period could be used for the development of more advanced and innovative nuclear power reactors. Such development could win sufficient public support, since the enhanced safety features of new reactor designs can be communicated to the general public in a more objective manner. Until then, the use of the existing nuclear power plants will be maintained until the end of 2003.
Regarding nuclear energy policy, no increase of nuclear capacity is expected in the foreseeable future. The governmental policy is that the nuclear option will be kept open in order "to board the train" if that would be desirable. Within this context the Netherlands participates in international nuclear research projects in the field of nuclear safety, decommissioning and nuclear waste.
The entire Dodewaard plant and 70% of the Borssele plant were manufactured in the Netherlands. The supplier of Dodewaard was General Electric (GE) and the supplier of Borssele was Kraftwerk Union (KWU)/Siemens.
The operator of the Dodewaard plant is the Joint Nuclear Power Plant Netherlands Ltd (NV GKN) and the operator of the Borssele plant is the Electricity Generating Company for the Southern Netherlands (NV EPZ).
Nuclear Research and Consulting Group (NRG) was established in 1998 through the merger of the Energy Research Foundation's (ENC) and Dutch electric power research institute's (KEMA) business activities in the nuclear fields, and operates the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in Petten. This nuclear research reactor is owned by the European Commission, but operated by NRG.
Uranium enrichment in the Netherlands is carried out by Urenco Nederland B.V. Urenco Nederland B.V. belongs to a multinational company, Urenco Ltd, located at Marlow, and has three shareholders: Ultra Centrifuge Netherlands (UCN NV) in the Netherlands, Uranit in Germany and INFL in the UK. The Netherlands government owns the majority of the shares (99%) in UCN.
Uranium enrichment is the most important part of the fuel cycle for the Netherlands and in this regard it is very successful. Urenco Nederland BV has a licence for a capacity of 2 500 t SW/a. The total uranium enrichment market share of Urenco in the western world is approximately 12% and growing. Urenco has concluded contracts in 15 countries, including: many EU countries; Switzerland; Brazil; South Africa; the United States; Korea and Japan. Urenco's success is based on its advanced gas ultra centrifuge technology. Improvements are still made to this technology as a result of an extensive research and development programme. Ultra-Centrifuge's (UC) availability was better than 99.9% in 2001. A licence for further growth was granted and a fifth plant (SP5), started up in 1999 and in its first hall the first ultra centrifuges ran smoothly during 2001. The decommissioning of the first UC plant (SP1) was completed successfully returning the site to its original green field status. In addition, Urenco Nederland uses this technology in spin-off activities in the aerospace industry as well as in the enrichment of stable isotopes inter alia for the nuclear sector and for medical purposes. A special plant for stable isotope production was completed and started in 1999, and ran smoothly in 2000.
In November 1999, the Dutch Cabinet agreed to study the possibility of selling the Dutch government shares in Ultra Centrifuge Nederland (UCN NV). Also, the Committee for Economic Affairs of the Parliament agreed to proceed with the study, provided that no irrevocable steps would be taken. Therefore, if the study favours a sale, the decision whether or not to privatise will have to be discussed by parliament.
On 4 March 2000, the Treaty of Almelo, which covers collaboration in the development and exploitation of the gas centrifuge process for producing enriched uranium, reached 30 years of existence. To mark this anniversary, on 9 March 2000, the Minister of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, Mrs. A. Jorritsma, officially inaugurated the fifth enrichment facility of Urenco Nederland. It has a capacity of 1 000 t SWU/a and brings the total capacity of the Dutch site in Almelo to 2 500 t SWU/a.
On 5 December 2000, Urenco's three uranium enrichment plants - Almelo in the Netherlands, Capenhurst in the United Kingdom and Gronau in Germany - achieved the landmark delivery of 50 million SWU. At the end of 2000, Urenco's total installed capacity approached 4.8 million SWU per annum. It is supplying around 12% of the total world demand for enrichment.
On 7 December 2000, USEC Inc. (a US enrichment company) filed a petition with the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) and the United States International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging that Urenco has shipped enriched uranium to the US in violation of anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws. A similar petition was also filed against Eurodif (part of Cogéma, France). The petition was filed by USEC on behalf of the US domestic industry producing low enriched uranium fuel (LEU) and sought the imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties. On 27 December 2000, the DOC decided to open an investigation. On 7 May 2001, the DOC made a preliminary determination that imports of LEU from Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom would be subject to a countervailing duty rate of 3.7%, and of 13.94% in the case of France. A preliminary anti-dumping determination by the DOC was delivered on 5 July 2001, determining that imports of LEU would be subject to an anti-dumping duty of 0% for Germany, 0% for the Netherlands and 3.35% for the United Kingdom. A final countervailing and anti-dumping determination was delivered on 14 December 2001 by the DOC indicating that imports of LEU from Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom would be subject to a countervailing duty rate of 2.23% and not be subject to an anti-dumping duty. Urenco has contested the countervailing duty decision and is currently appealing in the US Court of International Trade the DOC’s determinations.
The Central Organization for Radioactive Waste (COVRA) is entrusted with the treatment and storage of all categories of radioactive waste produced in the Netherlands. According to the adopted waste management strategy, the conditioned waste is kept in an engineered intermediate storage facility for an extended period of time (at least 100 years). The storage facility for high-level waste was commissioned 30 September 2003. The latter storage facility is designed to accommodate reprocessed and vitrified spent fuel from the nuclear power stations, conditioned spent fuel from the research reactors as well as other types of high level waste.
The original shareholders in COVRA were the main waste producers, namely the nuclear facilities at Dodewaard (30 per cent), Borssele (30 per cent) and the Energy Research Foundation (30 per cent) at Petten. The remaining 10 per cent was held by the state. However, the intention of the government to phase out the use of nuclear energy for electricity production by 2004 and the liberalisation of the electricity market by 2001 constituted reasons for a reconsideration of the ownership of COVRA. As a consequence, COVRA is now a wholly state-owned company.
The government has formulated a policy on radioactive waste governing long-term (approximately 100 years) interim surface storage and the conditions for permanent disposal. The government has decided that the disposal of radioactive material in an underground repository should ultimately be reversible, and that both salt formations and clay layers should be studied as possible geological matrices for such storage.
Although the current radioactive waste management policy envisages no disposal in the near future, research on the suitability of deep underground rock formations in the Netherlands has been continued over the last few years. The commission on radioactive waste (CORA) has been established to co-ordinate this research programme. The main characteristics of this national research programme, which started in 1996 and focused on retrievable disposal options, are outlined below:
The final report of the CORA research programme was sent to parliament by the Minister of Economic Affairs on 21 February 2001. The main conclusions are:
On the basis of the results and recommendations of the CORA report and the advice to be given by ILONA (an advisory body with representatives from EZ, VROM, NRG and GKN) the government will determine its position.
A discussion was initiated in Dutch Parliament about possibly terminating the reprocessing of spent fuel from Dodewaard and Borssele nuclear power stations in Sellafield and La Hague, respectively. At the request of the Ministry of Economic Affairs the ECN carried out a study mainly with respect to environmental, proliferation and financial aspects of reprocessing as compared with its alternative, direct storage. In conclusion, there is only a single substantially discriminating factor: financial aspects. In the present circumstances, continuation of the reprocessing strategy is by far much cheaper than any of its alternatives studied.
The ECN study, together with a governmental paper focusing among others on historical, legislative, contractual and proliferation aspects was sent to Parliament in June, 1997. As a political standpoint Government concluded there are no urgent reasons to change the actual strategy based on reprocessing of spent fuel.
A discussion in Parliament with the Minister of Economic Affairs was scheduled in September, 1997. However, Parliament decided to postpone such a discussion and first of all have a hearing involving relevant parties. This hearing took place on 24 October 1997. Quite a few parties were invited, among which were representatives of GKN (Dodewaard), EPZ (Borssele), ECN, Greenpeace, IAEA, NCI, Cogéma and BNFL.
On 22 January 1998, there was a discussion between the Minister and a Permanent Commission of Parliament on this issue. The government took the position that there are no weighty and urgent reasons to change present-day policy based on reprocessing of spent fuel. One of the opposition parties agreed with this position. However two of the governmental parties expressed their doubts on this issue.
On 11 March 1998, there was a plenary discussion on this subject in parliament. The coalition introduced a motion asking for more investigations with respect to possibilities and consequences of changing the reprocessing strategy including financial aspects. This motion was acceptable to the government and parliament took a confirming vote on this motion.
Therefore, another study was carried out on this subject by the the Nuclear Research and consultancy Group NRG (which was established in 1998 trough the merger of ECN's and KEMA's business activities in the nuclear field). On 12 May 1999, the results of this in-depth study were sent to parliament by the Minister of Economic Affairs. On 23 June 1999, there was a discussion between the minister and the Permanent Commission of Parliament on this issue. The minister took the standpoint that the NRG study gave a more clear picture of the whole situation with respect to reprocessing as compared with the ECN study of 1997, however, it was the same picture. Therefore, the Minister took the position that there was no reason whatsoever to change the government policy with respect to reprocessing, i.e. there were no urgent reasons to change the actual strategy based on reprocessing of spent fuel. There were hardly any objections against this standpoint issued by members of the Permanent Commission. On 19 January 2000, there was yet another discussion on this issue between the Minister of Economic affairs and the Permanent Commission of Parliament. All political viewpoints remained as they were in the past. Therefore, as it stands now, all existing reprocessing contracts will be honoured.
For additional information on the Netherlands radioactive waste management programme please see the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's Radioactive Waste Management Programmes in OECD/NEA Member Countries.
The merge of the nuclear departments of ECN and KEMA into the new entity Nuclear Research and consultancy Group (NRG) was successful. This new organisation employs about 300 researchers and scientists. NRG performs most of the nuclear research and development in the Netherlands, is committed to international projects in and outside the European Union and performs a number of commercial activities. Its commercial services have been divided into six product groups, namely: materials; monitoring and inspection; fuels, actinides and isotopes; risk management and decision analysis; radiation and environment; irradiation services; and plant performance and technology. NRG is co-operating internationally in areas, such as:
Most important is that new research and development goals have been set and that NRG has developed and improved its research and development tools and computer codes for the design and verification of innovative and inherently safe nuclear reactor concepts (both LWR type and others, for example HTR type).
The computer codes involve the fields of nuclear reactor physics, thermal hydraulics, accidents and failures as well as structural mechanics. This means that NRG is prepared to play a role in an international co-operation leading to the design, approval and licensing of new innovative nuclear reactor concepts. However, public opinion does yet support the idea of the construction of technologically new reactor on Dutch territory.
A new organisation was set up for the 45 MW thermal High Flux Reactor (HFR) . In the old situation, the HFR was owned by Joint Research Centre of the European Union (JRC) and operated under contract by NRG. In the new situation, there will be only one organisation for the HFR, which is supervised by JRC. NRG will be responsible for the operation and the commercial exploitation of the HFR. The HFR's operation was very successful in 2000. Its load factor was nearly 80%, which was about the same as the average over the last eight years.
The HFR was especially successful in the irradiation for radioisotope production. The HFR has around 70% of the European market for medical applications. Nearly 7 million people in and outside Europe were treated with its radioisotopes.
Another issue forms the conversion of HFR's fuel from high enriched uranium (HEU) to LEU. After a thorough study, the decision was taken to convert the fuel. Because of this decision, the return of spent fuel to the United States has recently resumed.
A co-operation between the University of Delft and NRG started in the area of neutron diffraction in 2002. The possibilities for this technology are very interesting, particularly in the areas of material stresses and of soft condensed matter. The first scientific results have been published.
Institutes which contribute to nuclear research funded by the Netherlands government, are:
Since the early days of the Dutch nuclear programme, international co-operation has been considered a necessity by all involved. Since the joint exploitation of the Halden research reactor (together with Norway) in the 1950s and 1960s until the Urenco co-operation in uranium enrichment of the present day, the Netherlands' nuclear activities have been undertaken in close co-operation with other countries. A strong interest in multilateral co-operation on nuclear energy matters within intergovernmental organisations complements the orientation towards practical co-operation with others.
Within the context of the "Open Nuclear Energy Option" the Netherlands remains interested in and dedicated to the development of new reactor concepts, such as: advanced light water reactors and high temperature gas-cooled reactors. In order to contribute to a sustainable energy supply in the long term. As far as the development of the HTR is concerned, NRG is co-operating with Eskom of South Africa and the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI).
The Netherlands and Germany also co-operate in the area of subsurface radioactive waste disposal. Research in this area has been performed in Germany's Asse salt mine. In the future, transmutation of actinides (including plutonium) and other long-lived fission products may replace geological disposal. In this innovative area, Dutch institutes (and HFR) are involved in co-operation with JRC, as well as French and Belgian institutes. Interest has also been expressed in a technology assessment of inherently safe nuclear reactors, for example: High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactors (HTGR).
In 1968, the first nuclear power plant, at Dodewaard, was connected to the grid. The original goal of the Dodewaard facility was to gain practical knowledge and experience with nuclear power in order to determine whether the commercial application of nuclear power would be feasible. Later in 1971, the Borssele nuclear power plant began operation. Decisions taken by the Dutch government and parliament in 1974 and 1975, to expand the number of nuclear power plants were subsequently deferred pending the resolution of debates on the issue. Similar decisions taken in 1985 and 1986 were also suspended, following the Chernobyl accident. Since that time, the Netherlands government has initiated various studies and research programmes, especially in the field of nuclear safety and on radioactive waste. In the mean time, nuclear energy is held as viable option for the future, especially in view of increased environmental concerns. However, the construction of new nuclear plants is not foreseen in the near future.
For additional information on national laws and regulations concerning nuclear power please see the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's Analytical Study of Nuclear Legislation in OECD countries.
Until mid-1999, licensing and regulatory activities were the common responsibility of the Minister of Economic Affairs, the Minister for Public Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. The role played by the Minister of Economic Affairs in issuing licences under the Nuclear Energy Law was the subject of some debate in the Netherlands during 1998 and the first months of 1999. The debate has centred on whether or not this role is compatible with his responsibility for the national energy supply. Talks have been taking place between the various ministries involved that have revolved around the possibility of redistributing ministerial responsibility for the implementation of Nuclear Energy Law, insofar as nuclear installations are concerned. The Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) currently plays a co-ordinating role in, and also carries the main responsibility for, the implementation of the Nuclear Energy Law, alongside the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM). As most of the expertise on environmental and safety aspects is concentrated in the latter two ministries, the government investigated whether it would be worth making the VROM responsible for co-ordinating licensing procedures instead of the EZ. As of 1 July 1999, agreement has been reached between the Minister of Economic Affairs and the Minister for Public Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment on the transfer of the co-ordinating role of the Minister of Economic Affairs. The latter will not have any longer the prime responsibility for the implementation and execution of the Nuclear Energy Act insofar as nuclear installations are concerned. The Minister of Economic Affairs, however, retains a shared responsibility for these matters. It should be mentioned that the main responsibility for energy supply policy remains with the Minister of Economic Affairs. In the Netherlands, basic legislation governing nuclear activities is contained in the Nuclear Energy Act of 1963, which has been amended on several occasions [1]. Detailed information concerning the legislative and regulatory framework can be found in [2].
During the autumn of 1994, when the new cabinet took over, discussions took place in parliament on whether the life time of the Borssele nuclear power plant should be extended by three years from 2004 till 2007. The year 2004 was the original date for the reactor's decommissioning, before Borssele's shareholders applied for a three-year life extension in order to justify a NLG 450 million safety related backfitting programme. The previous government had issued licenses for the backfitting, which had already begun. This made it difficult for the present government to withdraw the permission. But, on 23 November 1994, the Dutch parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to "waive plans to permit lifetime extension" for Borssele. Meanwhile, the Minister of Economic Affairs had been negotiating with the electricity producers (SEP) for a politically and economically acceptable compromise. Finally, the Dutch government and the electricity producers agreed, in December 1994, that the Borssele nuclear plant was to be shut down at the end of 2003. In exchange, SEP will be compensated NLG 70 million allowing it to complete the safety-related backfitting programme. The updating and modification programme was completed by mid-1997 and consisted of the following features:
However, in February 2000, the State Council cancelled the expiration date of 31 December 2003, which had been introduced by the Regulatory Body with regard to the operating license for the Borssele plant. As a result of that decision, the expiration date specified in the license was removed. Furthermore, EPZ, the owner of nuclear power plant Borssele, denied that there was any arrangement with the government to close the plant by the end of 2003. The Dutch government then unsuccessfully attempted a civil legal procedure aimed at closing the nuclear power plant by the end of 2003. In January 2006, a draft contract between the Borssele plant owners and the Dutch state was submitted to parliament. If approved, this will allow the plant to continue operating until the end of 2033.
A similar backfitting programme was performed at Dodewaard but was interrupted by the decision to halt plant operation. On 3 October 1996, the Board of Directors of the Dutch utility SEP (N.V. Samenwerkende elektricititeitsproduktiebedrijven) decided to permanently shut down the Dodewaard reactor in the near future. The shut-down became effective as of 26 March 1997. This decision was taken for two main reasons: firstly, the SEP felt that there was no longer any prospect of the Dutch government giving the go-ahead to the further development of nuclear energy in the Netherlands in the foreseeable future. Secondly, the Dodewaard nuclear power plant had been built primarily as a means of gaining experience with nuclear energy. It was never "economic" in the sense that revenues were higher than costs and this situation was likely to have been exacerbated by the impending deregulation of the European electricity market.
Dodewaard became operational in 1968. It was designed to operate with natural circulation, and was fitted with an isolation condenser to remove excess heat, properties that later became standard features of the new BWR design with passive safety characteristics. Originally planned to operate until 1 January 1995, its economic life was first extended to 1 January 1997, and later to 2004. The plant is now in the decommissioning phase. It has been decided to have a protective storage period of 40 years, after conservation measures have been put in place, before its final decommissioning.
For the impact of open electricity market on the nuclear sector, distinction has to be made between the existing generating capacity and the new to-be ordered nuclear capacity.
As fuel and operating costs for existing nuclear power plants are low compared to fossil plants it is attractive from an economical point of view to extend plant life as long as possible. As a consequence many operators of nuclear power plants are considering investments in plant life extension. In the Borssele nuclear power plant, such a refurbishment programme was successfully executed in 1996-1997.
The opening of the electricity markets might be not favourable for new nuclear capacity as nuclear energy possesses high investment costs, long construction periods (at least 5 years) and uncertain public acceptance. Consequently, the financial risks associated with nuclear energy are much higher than the ones of gas-fired capacity, namely Combined Cycle Gas Turbine technology.
Appendix 1 - International, Multilateral and Bilateral Agreements
Nuclear facts and figures for OECD countries
Number of nuclear units connected to the grid; Nuclear electricity generation (net TWh); Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply.
IEA energy statistics: Netherlands
Data available in the following areas: Coal, oil and gas use; Electricity production, supply and consumption; Heat production, supply and consumption; Graphs of sectorial final consumption by source in 1973 and 2001.
The Decommissioning and Dismantling of Nuclear Facilities in OECD/NEA Member Countries: Netherlands
This compilation of national fact sheets is intended to serve as an authoritative source of reference information on individual NEA member countries. In this context, the term "nuclear facility" includes all facilities associated with the production of nuclear power, from mining of uranium, through fabrication of nuclear fuel, nuclear power plant operation, fuel reprocessing and waste management, including related R&D facilities, and research and demonstration reactors.
Nuclear Legislation in OECD Countries: Netherlands
Regulatory and Institutional Framework for Nuclear Activities
Each country profile in this valuable reference work provides a detailed review of a full range of nuclear law topics. These include: the general regulatory regime, including mining; radioactive substances and equipment; nuclear installations; trade in nuclear materials; radiation protection; radioactive waste management; non-proliferation and physical protection; transport; and nuclear third party liability.
Energy for a Changing World
A website of the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy and Transport.
Nuclear Energy Data
Nuclear Energy Data is the NEA’s annual compilation of essential statistics on electricity generation and nuclear power in OECD countries. The reader will have quick and easy reference to the status of and projected trends in total electricity generating capacity, nuclear generating capacity, and actual electricity production, as well as to supply and demand for nuclear fuel cycle services.
This is an edited extract from the IAEA Country Nuclear Power Profiles. The complete entry is available from the IAEA.
Last updated: 20 June 2007
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