Dessel

Dessel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdɛsəl] ^ⓘ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Dessel proper. In 2021, Dessel had a total population of 9,659 inhabitants.^[2] The total area is 27.03 km².

Dessel
Municipality

Flag Coat of arms
Location of Dessel
Dessel Location in Belgium Location of Dessel in the province of Antwerp
Coordinates: 51°14′N 05°07′E / 51.233°N 5.117°E / 51.233; 5.117
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community
Region	Flemish Region
Province	Antwerp
Arrondissement	Turnhout
Government
• Mayor	Kris Van Dijck (N-VA)
• Governing party/ies	N-VA
Area
• Total	27.45 km² (10.60 sq mi)
Population (2020-01-01)^[1]
• Total	9,605
• Density	350/km² (910/sq mi)
Postal codes	2480
NIS code	13006
Area codes	014
Website	www.dessel.be

Dessel hosts several nuclear facilities:

Belgoprocess, ex Eurochemic reprocessing plant (OECD), now in charge of the operational waste management for Ondraf/Niras.
BelgoNucléaire, an old MOX factory, presently closed and to be decommissioned in the future.
Franco-Belge de Fabrication du Combustible (FBFC) making nuclear fuel assemblies;
The Dessel site was selected in June 2006 by the Belgian government to construct the first shallow land disposal facility for low-level radioactive waste in Belgium. The decision was taken after consultation of the local authorities and the population in the frame of the Stola consultation group.

The town has two football clubs:

K.F.C. Witgoor Sport, which plays in the Belgian Fourth Division.
K.F.C. Dessel Sport, which plays in the Belgian Second Division.

Graspop Metal Meeting, yearly heavy metal festival.

Climate data for Dessel (1991−2020 normals)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	6.4 (43.5)	7.4 (45.3)	11.2 (52.2)	15.6 (60.1)	19.2 (66.6)	22.0 (71.6)	24.0 (75.2)	23.7 (74.7)	20.1 (68.2)	15.4 (59.7)	10.2 (50.4)	6.8 (44.2)	15.2 (59.3)
Daily mean °C (°F)	3.5 (38.3)	3.9 (39.0)	6.7 (44.1)	10.0 (50.0)	13.8 (56.8)	16.6 (61.9)	18.7 (65.7)	18.2 (64.8)	14.9 (58.8)	11.1 (52.0)	6.9 (44.4)	4.1 (39.4)	10.7 (51.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	0.6 (33.1)	0.4 (32.7)	2.2 (36.0)	4.3 (39.7)	8.3 (46.9)	11.3 (52.3)	13.3 (55.9)	12.6 (54.7)	9.7 (49.5)	6.9 (44.4)	3.7 (38.7)	1.4 (34.5)	6.2 (43.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	69.1 (2.72)	63.5 (2.50)	56.6 (2.23)	42.5 (1.67)	59.2 (2.33)	75.0 (2.95)	80.7 (3.18)	80.0 (3.15)	64.1 (2.52)	65.9 (2.59)	72.6 (2.86)	87.7 (3.45)	816.9 (32.15)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	12.6	11.4	10.9	8.4	9.8	10.2	10.9	11.2	10.0	11.0	12.5	13.8	132.7
Mean monthly sunshine hours	61	77	132	184	213	212	218	204	160	116	66	50	1,693
Source: Royal Meteorological Institute^[3]