The Belgian government has reached a compromise on how to deal with the country’s nuclear power plants. The nuclear power plants at the Doel and Tihange sites are to be closed in 2025; However, it has not yet been finally decided whether some of them will be operated beyond 2025. The final decision should be made on March 18, 2022, reports Belgian media.
Actually, the Belgian government wanted to decide on the final nuclear phase-out before Christmas, reports the broadcaster VRT, which is why the responsible cabinet members met again. In doing so, they postponed the desired decision by almost three months. The Greens in the government are in favor of an exit in 2025, but the francophone liberals are resisting. They fear electricity bottlenecks.
If the Greens prevail, among other things, two gas-fired power plants would be built to replace the lack of electricity from the nuclear power plants that were then shut down. However, the approval of one of the planned gas power plants to be built in Vilvoorde has not been granted. The government therefore wants to wait until March 15 for approval. Then it should be checked whether a gas power plant can be built at another location.
Operator does not want to extend
Georges-Louis Bouchez, chairman of the government’s Mouvement Réformateur, relies on the two most recent reactors, Doel 4 and Tihange 3, which have been in operation since 1985 as a reserve. However, the operator of the Engie nuclear power plant recently emphasized that it was not possible to extend the running times.
A term extension requires a lead time of at least five years, also because of the necessary studies and approval procedures, argued the operator. Legal proceedings and the necessary investments would also take time. Experience with similar projects has shown that.
The seven Belgian reactors (three in Tihange, four in Doel) should each be shut down forty years after the start of commercial operation, it was decided in Belgium in 2003. The shutdown of the first two reactors was planned for 2015, for the last 2025. In 2015, Belgium decided to extend the Doel 1 and 2 reactors until 2025; such a possibility was provided for in the Belgian nuclear phase-out act.
Doel is 150 kilometers and Tihange 70 kilometers from the German border. In the summer of this year, the city of Cologne signed a resolution against the extension of the term. The Doel location has been the subject of controversy for years because of various security concerns, according to the resolution initiated by the Aachen region. The region had already provided iodine tablets for a possible nuclear accident in 2017.
(anw)