Germany urges Belgium to shut nuclear reactors temporarily

German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has asked Belgium to close two nuclear reactors temporarily because of concerns over safety.

The two ageing Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactors were taken offline in 2012 when defects were found in the walls of the pressure vessels of the reactor.
They were restarted late last year amid concern in the Netherlands and Germany.
Belgium's authorities have rejected the German request, saying there is no need "from a nuclear safety point of view".
Ms Hendricks called for the reactors to be taken offline in response to a report by Germany's independent Reactor Safety Commission.
She said that "on the one hand [the report] says there are no concrete indications that the reactor pressure vessels will not resist the strain; but on the other hand they say you cannot, according to today's knowledge, be sure that they'll resist every possible strain. And that's why we need further investigation."