laboratory is researching if layers of clay as found in the North-East of Belgium could be used for permanent storage of nuclear waste. In September 2011 ONDRAF/NIRAS fulfilled its legal obligation of publishing a Waste Plan. The 255-page document evaluates all proposed methods of disposal and concludes by recommending storage in the aforementioned layers of clay. The final decision is a political one. No permanent storing is expected to take place prior to 2040. In August 2018, newspaper Le Soir revealed ONDRAF/NIRAS estimates that the option of long-term deep-burying high-level radioactive waste would not cost €3.2 billion, but rather €8 to €10 billion. This is because it is now considered more adequate to bury the waste at a depth of 400 metres instead of the previously determined 200 metres. Legally, the nuclear plants' private owners, mainly Electrabel, are set to pay for this through the Synatom-managed phase-out fund. Effluent Nuclear power stations also produce liquid and gaseous effluent. Nuclear effluent contains less radioactivity over a larger volume and is dispersed into the environment. The Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) estimates the maximum impact of the Doel site at 0.02 mSv per year, and the maximum impact of the Tihange site at 0.05 mSv per year. The legal limit of exposure of the public to radiation from artificial sources is 1 mSv per year. By comparison, the exposure to radiation during one transatlantic flight is 0.08 mSv and a CT scan of the chest is about 6.6 mSv (per scan and not per year, as those are cumulative). The liquid effluent from the Doel and Tihange sites are discharged into the Scheldt and Meuse rivers. There is no river near the Mol-Dessel sites. Its effluent is discharged via a pipeline into the small river Molse Nete. Which suffers from historical pollution. Phase-out In 1999 the policy statement of the Verhofstadt I Government (a coalition including the green parties Groen! and Ecolo) introduced a plan to phase-out nuclear power generation. The following year a government appointed commission reported that nuclear power was important to Belgium and recommended further development. Nevertheless, in 2003 near the end of its term Belgium's government passed phase-out legislation. It stipulates that no new commercial reactors are to be built and that Belgium's seven reactors would be shut down when they reach an operational lifetime of 40 years. All reactors reach this age in the period 2015–2025.