Belgium shuts down nuclear reactor over suspected vessel cracking | Bellona - Aug. 10, 2012 |

But the wear and tear on one of its reactor vessel is an alarming sign for at least three other European countries and possibly more worldwide, all of which purchased vessels from the same now-bankrupt Dutch manufacturer.

Nils Bøhmer, Bellona's general director and nuclear physicist said that similar problem will begin to appear worldwide due to ageing nuclear reactors, whose average lifespan is about 30 years.

The wear and tear observed in Beligium, said Bøhmer, "is something that comes of neutron radiation from power generation" within the reactor core that is housed by the vessel.

"This will, as reactors get older, cause cracks," in reactor vessels said Bøhmer.

The 1,006 MW Doel No 3 reactor, operated by GDF Suez unit Electrabel, is scheduled to close in 10 years according to the nuclear exit plan the Belgian government adopted in July. A pressurized water reactor, it went into service in 1982.

The suspected fractures at the reactor, 25 kilometers  north of Antwerp near the Dutch border, which provides a sixth of Belgium's nuclear-generated power, do not pose any health and safety threat, said AFCN, the country's nuclear watchdog.

Some 9 million people live within a 75 kilometer radius of the plant.