LONDON — European utilities need to carry out extra inspections at 11 nuclear power reactors to prove that they do not have the same flaws found at GDF Suez’s Doel-3 reactor in Belgium, according to the Nuclear Energy Agency.
There will be discussions between the plant operators and the nuclear safety authorities in each country about whether and how soon the inspections can happen, Ron Cameron, head of nuclear development at the NEA in Paris, said Friday by telephone.
Ultrasonic testing of the 1,006-megawatt Doel-3 reactor revealed ‘‘numerous indications’’ of possible cracks in the reactor tub manufactured by Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij, Belgian nuclear watchdog AFCN said on Tuesday.
Twenty-two reactors in eight countries may be affected, including 10 in the United States, Cameron said, without identifying the sites.
The European Union and Switzerland have 135 reactors, according to the World Nuclear Association. The EU generated 28 percent of its power from nuclear plants in 2009, according to Eurostat.
‘‘All 11 in Europe will have to go through a process to show that they are not similarly affected, either through previous or future inspections,’’ Cameron said.
‘‘It is likely that some of the extra inspections, if required, will be carried out during scheduled maintenance,’’ Cameron said.
AFCN will meet with European nuclear regulators from Europe whose plants may also be affected in Brussels on Aug. 16 to discuss plant safety precautions, an official at Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear in Madrid, who declined to be identified, citing policy, said Friday by phone.
Karina De Beule, an AFCN spokeswoman in Brussels, did not respond to phone calls and e-mails Friday and Thursday.