BRUSSELS, March 18 (Reuters) – Belgium postponed its exit from nuclear power by ten years on Friday, previously set for 2025, for the sake of energy independence in the face of the upheavals caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The coalition government of Alexander de Croo has decided to extend the life of the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 reactors until 2035, while the nuclear phase-out plan adopted in 2003 provided for the closure of all the nuclear power plants. by 2025, and at the same time to accelerate the transition to renewable energies.
“Everyone knows there is a war in Europe,” explained Alexander de Croo during a press conference after a government meeting lasting several hours. “We choose certainty in uncertain times.”
“We have decided that the two reactors can be extended for ten years”, declared the Belgian Prime Minister.
The two reactors, the most recent in the country, which entered service in 1985, are operated by Engie, which must therefore give its consent.
In a press release, the French group promised “to contribute to this reflection by studying with the government the feasibility and the conditions for implementing the solutions envisaged”.
“The decision to extend Tihange 3 and Doel 4 raises significant safety, regulation and implementation constraints and presents a risk profile that exceeds, by its unpredictability and its magnitude, the normal activity of an operator priv,” he added.
“The chosen scheme should allow a structural alignment of the interests of the stakeholders as well as an adequate sharing of risks and opportunities.”
Tihange 3 is a 1,038 megawatt reactor located on the Meuse in the province of Lige in eastern Belgium. Doel 4 is a 1,039 megawatt reactor located near Antwerp.
The exit strategy from nuclear power in Belgium was initially to be based on the development of natural gas, with in particular the construction of a gas-fired power station north of Brussels.
But since the war led by Moscow in Ukraine, Europeans have decided to gradually reduce their heavy dependence on Russian hydrocarbons and to put an end to it by 2027. (Report Robin Emmott, French version Jean-Stphane Brosse)