Closure of Tihange 2: some environmentalists traveled more than 300 km to demonstrate against the shutdown of the reactor

The Association of Nuclear Ecologists (AEPN), whose site has url ecolo.org, came from France to defend the extension of atomic energy. The German Noa traveled 350 km from his city of Marburg to be present. “Belgium risks finding itself in a more critical situation than Germany, because it has no coal-fired power stations”he warns. Britta Augustin, a famous German activist, was also there, climbing the trees to take pictures and bouncing from side to side of the event. “I drove 6 hours to come. We have experienced our own closures and I wanted to see how Belgium prepares to experience the same.

German Environment Minister welcomes closure of Tihange 2: “It means a lot more nuclear safety for us too”

More surprising was the presence of these demonstrators formerly opposed to nuclear power who today have completely reversed the direction of their fight. In 2017, the Dutchman Emil took part in the human chain which brought together nearly 50,000 people between Tihange and Aix-la-Chapelle. “We were afraid of the corrosion of the reactors, but later we learned that this was not the case”, comments the one who is now a member of the association Kern for Klimaat (Nuclear for the climate). “After realizing that this reactor was secure, I realized that we needed nuclear energy to move us towards zero carbon.”

Marc Defrenes, for his part, tries to defend these ideas in the corridors of the European institutions “infiltrated for 20 years by a green dogmatism”. Founder of the NGO WeCare, this former worker of the European Commission present Tuesday in Tihange calls to look into the reform of the electricity market. “This reform is the next fight. It directly affects citizens’ wallets. Things are slowly starting to move.”