The European Union has called for the tests following the earthquake-related crisis at the Fukushima plant in Japan and a decision by German chancellor Angela Merkel to shut down seven older reactors in Germany for an indeterminate time. Two are unlikely ever to open again.

As Flanders Today went to press, Magnette was due to discuss the issue with his fellow EU energy ministers. Only then would it become known how the tests, which are not obligatory, will be carried out and by whom. "Belgium will also argue for as many member states as possible to submit their nuclear plants to the tests," he said.

Magnette pledged the results of the tests would be made public, and any reactor that failed would have to close. Belgium has seven nuclear reactors, four at Doel and three at Tihange in Liège province. "But I should be surprised if all seven reactors failed," said Magnette. "When they were built, the rules were very strict."

Nevertheless, the federal government took the decision in 2003 to close the country's oldest reactors (Doel 1 and 2 and Tihange 1) by 2015, and the rest by 2025. However the VLD party (now Open VLD) of the then-prime minister Guy Verhofstadt worked to have that law overturned, a view which was supported by a committee set up by his party colleague, energy minister Marc Verwilghen, in 2006.

CD&V, an even greater opponent of the closure plan, won the 2007 election, and a report commissioned by Magnette recommended postponing closure by 10 years for the three older reactors and by 20 years for the rest. That was about to become law, when Open VLD caused the fall of the Leterme government. In effect, the plan for plant closure in 2015 is still in force.

This month, just two days before the earthquake in Japan, the International Atomic Energy Agency called on the Belgian government to make a decision on keeping the reactors open - something it cannot do until a new government is formed. Since the nuclear disaster of earlier this month, however, all bets are off. Last week Magnette made it clear that even if a new government were to be formed tomorrow, the question of whether or not to close the reactors is now off the table until the stress tests have been carried out.

The incident in Unit 4 of the Doel power plant (pictured), meanwhile, was caused by one of the six pumps that brings cooling water to the reactor as a back-up if the normal supply goes down. In a routine test it was discovered that the pump was delivering water at a pressure lower than intended. Investigation found that the pump had not been properly calibrated when it was installed six months ago. "The incident could not have had serious consequences since we have the capacity to handle any possible problem with only two pumps," a spokesperson said.

There is "absolutely no need" to take iodine tablets to protect against the effects of radiation from the Fukushima accident, according to the Federal Nuclear Control Agency, in response to queries from pharmacists inundated by requests from the public. The tablets are, however, available free to people living within a 20-kilometre radius of the nuclear power plants at Doel and Tihange, as well as the nuclear energy study centre in Mol and the National Institute for Radio-elements in Fleurus, Hainaut province.