On 11 January the municipal council of Borsele decided it’ll accept the 39 conditions of a group of 100 local citizens that were consulted on the topic of building two new nuclear power plants. What are these conditions and how will they impact the project going forward?

But first, who is this group anyway? In 2022 the government appointed the site of the only running commercial nuclear power plant in the Netherlands, Borssele, as the preferred location for two new units. The municipality of Borsele wanted public participation in this process and so formed a Borsele Voorwaarden Groep (Borsele Conditions Group), or BVG. In 2023 100 residents were selected by lottery to participate and the group convened five times between June and October 2023.

It produced a list of 39 conditions and the local council accepted them. They’re now being presented to the national government. They can be found in this document, which is in Dutch.

The conditions consist of ten ‘packages’, which are conditions grouped along the following themes:

1. Construction space and logistics
2. Safety and health
3. Climate, energy and sustainability
4. Landscape, nature and recreation
5. Communication and support base
6. (Construction) nuisance
7. Ownership
8. Housing, living, quality of life and facilities
9. Education, knowledge and economic development
10. Compensation and Indemnification

I’ll shortly go over all these conditions, but I’d like to start out by saying that this has been a model of how the general population should be taken seriously. They’ve been informed by many experts, they’ve taken five days of their time to be informed and form an opinion, and at least the local government took their feedback and took it seriously. This is the way to do it.

Do I think, as a nuclear advocate, that these conditions are outrageous? No, not at all. As you’ll see, I think most conditions should be accepted as a minimum base of going forward. There are a few however that I have some remarks on. Furthermore, the group expanded their scope to all energy projects. This is because Borsele is also the landing spot for offshore wind. These are not just conditions about nuclear energy.

Let’s dig in.

Condition 1: 1.1 Nuclear power stations and future industrial developments in the seaport and industrial area ‘t Sloe

“Demarcation of the construction area: nuclear power stations and other energy projects and their construction sites (as well as outbuildings, offices, parking spaces) must be located within the Sloe area.

The Sloe area is an industrial area around the local harbor.

The red outlined area is the Sloe. Let’s see that with a satellite image.

Let’s zoom in a little.

Everything south of that PV park is outside the Sloe. Just below the solar park you also see two power plants: the old coal power plant (it was demolished in 2022) and just below that the nuclear power plant. Really tiny footprint.

But where do we fit the two new units? Well…

The solar park is just 0.2 km2, but that’s plenty of room to build two modern EPR units which, of all modern large water reactors, have the largest footprints.

Replace the solar park with two EPR units and expand the production of clean energy 3000-fold. Seems like a no brainer.

Condition 2: 1.2 Regulation of construction traffic

• “At least 75% of the logistics, supply and removal takes place by water and rail. The remaining (maximum) 25% by road.
• For work transport, only the A58 and N62 should be used outside peak times (rush hour).
• A baseline measurement before the start of large-scale projects can be used to monitor whether this is exceeded during construction (zero tolerance).
• If this is exceeded, a fine will be charged to the municipality.
• Borssele should have an additional access route from the N62, independent of the Sloe area, so that construction traffic is separated from commuting traffic towards the village.
• Parking for construction traffic outside the municipality of Borsele: 15 km away by shuttle bus.”

Condition 3: 1.3 Separate construction traffic from bicycle traffic

“Completely separate construction traffic from regular bicycle traffic. We assume the construction route A58-N62-Europaweg-Oost, where Europaweg-Oost requires special attention because a secured cyclist crossing is needed there.”

This is all pretty reasonable.

Condition 4: 1.4 Research into deep construction: preventing horizon pollution

“Research into the possibility of constructing a possible new nuclear power plant at a deeper level, in order to prevent horizon pollution in consideration of noise pollution. Deeper construction causes noise pollution.”

In this letter by the ministry of infrastructure and water management to parliament in 2022, they state the following:

“Even if the environment of a nuclear power plant changes in the meantime, safety must be guaranteed. This means, for example, that if sea levels rise or the number of residents around a nuclear power plant increases, the same safety guarantees must be offered to the population and, where possible, even further increased. The safety conditions are therefore independent of the choice of location.”

This is why the current nuclear power plant and COVRA, the central storage for nuclear waste, is also on a raised area, about 5 meters above sea level. So, to say that a new nuclear power plant should be built deeper into the ground, as to prevent horizon pollution, is somewhat sketchy. Sure, we can research this, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

Condition 5: 2.1 Guaranteeing social safety

“Prevention:

• two extra police officers
• Supervision: on site. Facilitated by the builder.
• Join the Zeeland safety monitor (can this be used as a baseline measurement?)
• VOG employees/staff (construction) consortium.”

A large building site with thousands of workers can cause social problems. These are perfectly reasonable conditions.

Condition 6: 2.2 Water safety and financing thereof

“The government will reimburse 100% of the costs of dike reinforcement, relocation or heightening.”

This needs a little context for an international audience perhaps: water safety and management is done by water boards (yes, unfortunate name in English), which levy taxes to the citizens in the area they manage. The condition here is that the national government pays for this, thereby moving the tax burden to all citizens in the country.

Since this is a project of national relevance, I don’t see much issue with this really.

Condition 7: 2.3 Protection in disaster and crisis situations

• “Setting up QRT team for Sloe area and surroundings
• Expansion of safety risk area
• Increased safety risk of the Sloe area
• Commission a police training center in the immediate vicinity of the Sloe area
• Involving citizens in training on crisis situations
• Increase police coverage in the Sloe area to 24/7 “patrol”
• Expansion of the VRZ to support the new QRT
• Active communication about safety expectations towards citizens via public channels: “Omroep Zeeland, NOS””

I’m pretty sure this is existing policy. Here’s a 148 page General Disaster Management Plan for Radiation Incidents of the area around Borssele if you want to deep dive.

Condition 8: 2.4 Monitoring and enforcement of the impact on the physical health of the residents of the municipality of Borsele

“Strict enforcement of laws and regulations through independent measurements, the results of which are accessible to everyone in the Netherlands. This concerns the following measurements: radiation level, air quality, air pollution, water quality, emissions of hazardous substances, noise and light pollution and vibrations.”

Good thing the EU already facilitates such a real time monitoring map for radiation.

Condition 9: 2.5 Healthcare facilities for employees guaranteed

“The builders will set up their own care team, especially for employees and their families, for at least 1st line care.”

I’m a bit confused about this one. Every citizen should already be covered by healthcare insurance and company emergency response teams are mandated by law.

Condition 10: 2.6 Safely process nuclear waste and a concrete prospect of final disposal

“Before a permit is granted for construction, there must be a concrete plan for the final disposal of radioactive waste. This disposal facility must be in use by 2050.”

This is going to be a discussion point. The Dutch government decided to adopt a wait and see approach. Only in 2100 will a final decision be made about final disposal, wich would come online by 2130. This is actually quite a sensible approach as several technologies are being developed that potentially completely remove high level waste from the equation. Thorizon is one such example, developing a thorium molten salt reactor (I’ll do a piece on this topic later). This condition seems to be a rather sneaky way to pressure the government into taking action now. I doubt this condition will be accepted by the national government.

Condition 11: 3.1 Utilization of residual heat

“An independent investigation must be carried out for every new development. The results of this research should be part of environmental permits.”

Great idea. Lots of homes, business and greenhouses can be heated with this.

Condition 12: 3.2 Investment in Zeeland’s energy network

“A strengthened energy network with sufficient capacity to continue to make future initiatives possible.”

Good, but in contradiction to later conditions.

Condition 13: “3.3 The realization of (energy) projects may not be at the expense of sustainable energy developments and realizations”

“Continued urgency and financial resources to continue developing and realizing sustainable and safe energy generation/reuse in addition to nuclear energy in Zeeland.”

I guess we’ll need to rebuild that solar park elsewhere (see condition 1)?

Condition 14: 4.1 Preservation and strengthening of the Natura 2000 area Western Scheldt before, during and after the realization of large-scale energy projects

“A secured and financed total plan for the preservation and strengthening of the Western Scheldt, which at least includes:

• No cooling water discharge into the Western Scheldt; both for current and possible new power stations. Discharge the cooling water further towards the North Sea or use it in the heating network.
• Fish-friendly passages (also current and new)
• Impact of construction activities and operation of energy projects on water and soil.”

Now, you might think that we’ll just build cooling towers then, but this is blocked in 4.3. I’d like to see whether this condition has any scientific base. Discharging the cooling water further into the North Sea doesn’t seem to change anything, environmental wise, in any case.

Condition 15: 4.2 Connected green buffer between industry and the environment

“Drawing up and realizing an integrated landscape plan that includes at least:

• Maintain/leave unaffected the existing Sloerand (green).
• Complete realization of the ‘t Sloe green project on the south side (prior to construction, which includes sufficient green variety and higher shielded greenery).
• Realization of the Forest Vision (in the municipality of Borsele) (including dike plantings as contiguous spatial backdrops), prior to construction.
• Expand and strengthen the entire Sloerand prior to the realization of energy projects.”

Thumbs up here.

Condition 16: 4.3 No impact on the current landscape: no high-voltage pylons and cooling towers

“No disruptors such as high-voltage pylons and cooling towers:

• New energy supply and drainage routes to be constructed must be constructed underground. The safety of the environment must be taken into account.
• Smart and invisible construction of any nuclear power stations and other elements, underground, making the above-ground parts more invisible by applying ‘sky color’ and shielding bushes.
• New connections on the same route as current connections.
• Also bring the current 380 kV underground.
• Felling of trees must be compensated in the same area.”

This is what I meant with my comments at conditions 12 and 14. Also, bringing the high voltage lines underground has significant disadvantages, that network operator TenneT decided against them:

“Although it is technically possible to install these connections underground, business operations at these voltage levels are still under development. More disruptions occur and the risk of grid instability is significantly greater than with overhead connections. Experience shows that resolving these faults takes a lot of time (up to 480 hours per fault). With a view to security of supply, it is therefore not responsible to implement underground construction on a large scale. More experience must first be gained worldwide.”

As for cooling towers, you could actually build low rise forced draft cooling towers, like these:

Condition 17: 4.4 Integrated National Integration Plan

“A cross-municipal vision of the landscape must be laid down in an integrated National Integration Plan. This must also include an area biography, which includes characteristics and qualities of our area and (adjacent) national landscapes and Natura 2000 area. The permits to be issued for projects to be realized must meet the conditions of this National Landscape Integration Plan.”

Condition 18: 4.5 Maintaining and improving the Kaloot

• “De grens van de Kaloot behouden conform Natura-2000
• De unieke waarden van de Kaloot voor natuur en recreatie moeten gewaarborgd blijven. Hiervoor moeten permanent (financiële) middelen beschikbaar zijn.”

No complaints.

Condition 19: 5.1 Comprehensive information about all projects

“A comprehensive overview from the government in which the effect of the various projects is clearly shown. Always available and up to date before, during and after the construction of all projects.”

Condition 20: 5.2 Honest and understandable information about all projects

• “All communication in understandable language (B1 level)
• Communication must be supported with visual material and perspectives from eye level to gain insight into impact.
• A physical information center in the municipality, such as the Western Scheldt Tunnel information center
• The information center is independent of the investors and builders. Residents can also ask questions to the information center, which will be answered by independent experts.
• One point of contact for questions: an area manager
• Nuisance reporting centre”

Transparency is key. These are good conditions.

Condition 21: 5.3 Honesty about the support base

“After providing the residents with comprehensive information (see 5.1) about all projects, an external survey is conducted to gauge support among all residents of the municipality of Borsele.”

Research has provided time and again that the public support for nuclear energy is highest in those areas closest to Borssele. But good to do this of course.

Condition 22: 6.1 Standards, violations and enforcement

• “Baseline measurement by independent agency.
• Measurements must take place on the edge of the Sloe area and in the four Sloe villages. Leave measuring instruments at these measuring points to measure the values during construction.
• These current values must be accessible to citizens at all times. For example on the municipality’s website.
• Constant baseline measurement, day + night, for 1 year. Convert this result to averages of the following time periods: weekdays Mon to Fri 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM, evening/night 7:00 PM – 7:00 AM, weekends Fri 7:00 PM – Mon 7:00 AM.
• Averages of the time periods may not be exceeded by more than 5%. These averages must be made public.
• Baseline measurement as described must be carried out for: noise, dust, light, vibrations and emissions.
• Addition regarding noise: A value of 10 decibels below the applicable legal standard may not be exceeded. If the aforementioned limits are exceeded by more than 30 minutes per 24 hours, work must be stopped immediately. Work may only be resumed after appropriate measures have been taken in which the set limits are again respected.
• In addition, a fine of €25,000 applies per violation. This must end up in the specially established fund for the quality of life in the municipality of Borsele (see condition 10.1).”

Condition 23: 6.2 Communication and participation before and during construction

• “Allow the current group to continue (Borselse Conditions Group and local experts) for continuity.
• Strengthening supervision by municipality/province (officials + enforcement).
• Appoint an independent coordinator between builder, citizen and government.
• Maintain the existing 24/7 complaint line.
• Support village councils with expertise before and during construction.
• Independent experts.
• Make the energy transition a permanent part of the curriculum of primary, secondary, secondary and higher education. Also consider excursions and guest lectures.”

I think almost all of these conditions are good. I’m not sure why the current BVG should remain though. What would be their role exactly?

Condition 24: 6.3 Respect Sunday rest

“Respect and maintain Sunday rest; exceptions in consultation with coordinator (see 6.2). No construction activity & transports on Sundays.”

This is a highly religious protestant area. Better not mess with that one.

Condition 25: 7.1 All energy projects, and control thereof, under Dutch management as far as possible

• “The ownership of the nuclear power plant must be in the hands of the national government or a designated entity. This guarantees the crucial infrastructure. More than 51% control must be held by the Dutch state.
• Share participation: the owner of the nuclear power plant must be open to share participation by local parties. The minimum share held by the Dutch state must be greater than 51%.
• In the event of changes in shareholdings, we want to prevent ownership from transferring to other (foreign) hands. The municipality of Borsele must have a say in changes that take place, in order to safeguard the interests of their citizens.
• One administrative body for the Sloe area, consisting of involved local parties.”

As a socialist I’m really happy with this demand. In fact, it could even be stronger, by demanding for example the nuclear power plant will be wholly publicly owned. Making the workfloor a co-operative also would be a good step.

Condition 26: 8.1 Maintain and expand public transport

“Public transport must be maintained. Shuttle buses must be tendered separately, so that this is not at the expense of public transport requirements. Separate boarding parking spaces must also be created.”

Condition 27: 8.2 Don’t overload villages: housing for workers

• “Transparent action plan and implementation program and extensive participation by the local population.
• At least 80% of the employees are accommodated centrally and/or outside the boundaries of the municipality of Borsele.
• Allow families & long-stayers to live around or in villages by building new sustainable (flex) homes, in a style that suits the village character (cultural heritage)
• The central reception locations to be built must meet the standards as set by the Roemer advisory committee
• Housing plan and housing must be ready for the construction of the 9 projects
• Regulate housing of migrant workers in village centers through municipal regulations
• In temporary construction, houses must be recyclable.
• In permanent construction, the preservation of the characteristic village view must be taken into account.”

Condition 28: 8.3 Municipal policy aimed at housing workers

• “Housing policy ready three years before construction starts
• Involve the population in drawing up.
• Evaluate policy after three years with the population/companies/employees.”

A good set of social conditions. Let’s do this.

Condition 29: ​​8.4 Impact of construction: local population shouldn’t suffer!

• “The government ensures that the construction of nuclear power plants II & III and modification of [Borssele] I and other energy projects remain outside the nitrogen space of the municipality of Borsele.
• The government is developing a new program that provides a continued sufficient and affordable supply of contracting for local housing construction and maintenance.
• Prior to the arrival of the energy projects, first focus on temporary/flexible housing construction.”

There’s a lot to do about nitrogen deposition in the Netherlands, which is mainly caused by the cattle industry. I’m not sure if this condition is even possible judicially.

Condition 30: 8.5 Facilities for the benefit of employees

“Social facilities are recruited externally and used specifically for employees on the construction site to limit the pressure on social facilities in Borsele.”

Condition 31: 8.6 Let local entrepreneurs benefit from energy projects

• “Local entrepreneurs in the municipality of Borsele are given priority when hiring companies by the main and secondary contractors. This may, for example (but not exclusively) concern companies in the field of security, cleaning, communication, translation, construction, (installation) technology, earthwork, (road) construction work, green areas, recreation, transport, training, medical care, education and providing food and drinks on the construction site and in the restaurants at the construction site.
• To provide the hydrogen factory with sufficient freshwater, freshwater must be transported to Zeeland. Make sure that the water pipe has sufficient capacity so that agriculture and fruit growing can also draw water from it during dry periods. This ensures that crop failures are prevented/reduced, so that food prices do not rise due to the scarcity that would otherwise arise because crops grow poorly due to a shortage of water. This not only benefits agriculture/fruit growing, but the entire community.”

These two demands seem strongly interlinked. New facilities of course mean new local economic activity.

Condition 32: 9.1 Support local educational institutions

“School umbrella organizations in Zeeland must be given scope and full financing to care for children of employees according to their own wishes and possibilities.”

Condition 33: 9.2 Sustainable energy campus Zeeland

“Make financial resources, knowledge and scope available to establish a training center/knowledge campus in the field of energy transition (technical: sun, wind, hydrogen, batteries, energy transport and energy conversion. And social sciences: legal, behavioral science, economics. And landscape science and environmental science). realize.

The training provides a job guarantee. Ensure that this knowledge campus is completed within 5 years.”

The local community should certainly get the opportunity economically. Education facilities, were they don’t already exist, should be expanded. After all, the new nuclear power plants will provide jobs for thousands of people, for generations.

Condition 34: 10.1 Extra-statutory spatial compensation for all projects separately

• “Financing compensation:
  • An extra-statutory spatial compensation of 4 to 5% of the construction price.
  • Compensation as a pro-rata fine if the construction time and construction price are exceeded.
  • Compensation per megawatt of installed capacity during operation. So proportional to the amount of energy generated, compensation in the form of energy for the region.
• At least 80% to be paid out in a fund from year 1.
• The fund is managed by an independent foundation. Indexing always applies.
• In addition, compensation per Megawatt of installed capacity for extending the current power plant in operation.
• Compensation on a pro rata basis: most impact, most compensation.”

A facility that shouldn’t be needed, but good to think about as an eventuality.

Condition 35: 10.2 Money flowing back to the region

• “Full statutory and non-statutory compensation during construction.
• Compensation per installed capacity during operation.”

This is a different formulation of earlier conditions, this time with a monetary focus.

Condition 36: 10.3 Maintain and strengthen facilities for different population groups and ages in all villages

“In order to maintain and strengthen existing facilities as well as add new facilities, it is necessary to receive structural financial compensation to be determined from the initiator or central government. This applies to all facilities (including green play facilities for children, meeting places for the elderly and sports facilities for young people).”

Seems like people are using the opportunity to ask for new investments in their villages. This isn’t really related to the new nuclear power plants. Power to them. A lot of facilities disappeared in the last few decades in villages all over the country. Good on them to try and turn that tide.

Condition 37: 10.4 Reduction of nuisance to other companies in the Sloe area

• “Subsidies to encourage sustainability
• Strict rules for issuing permits for new companies”

Condition 38: 10.5 Compensation for households/SMEs

“Various options:

• Cheap energy contract for residents
• Encouraging sustainability”

Condition 39: 10.6 Compensation, outside the compensation fund

“Compensation:

• General analysis and reporting of house prices in the municipality: development since 2020, compared to national trends, for small, medium and large houses in centers and in rural areas of the municipality of Borsele.
• Possibility of free valuation for a 0 measurement (other proof is also possible), such as WOZ value, previous returns, etc.
• Completed by the government within 3 months. (If applicable, the government can recover this from the builder/operator, etc.)
• At all times outside the compensation fund.
• Application must be simple.
• Taking inflation/market value into account when making compensation.”

More of the same. It’s per haps good to know that another province, Groningen, has been underdeveloped and backward for decades, despite the Dutch government selling their gas for hundreds of billions for that national benefit. Groningen is understandably very pissed about that, being left with many damages due to earthquakes caused by this gas industry. I can totally see why the people of Borsele are being pretty stringent about this thing.

In conclusion, I think these conditions are a blueprint for other big projects in the future. Not only are the demands pretty well thought out, given the exception here and there, but the process of getting there is really well done. The government is often seen as quite distancened from the population, resulting in a lot of distrust. This is proof it can be done in another way. Let’s embrace that and make these new nuclear power plants the community pride.

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