“With these decisions, work on the expansion of the two youngest nuclear power plants can start tomorrow,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said at a press conference on Monday evening.
The extension is crucial to ensure security of energy supply for the next ten years. According to De Croo, half of the Belgian state and half of the operator Engie should participate in the project.
The Belgian government had already decided in March last year that the Tihange 3 reactor near the German border and the Doel 4 reactor near Antwerp must continue to operate until at least the end of 2035. The implementation was still being negotiated with operator Engie. Originally, a phase-out of nuclear energy was planned for 2025. The war in Ukraine and its consequences for Belgium and neighboring countries played a role in the decision. According to a statement, it is now planned to return the two reactors to operation in the winter of 2026 after the works necessary for the expansion.
In Germany, the Belgian nuclear reactors from the 1970s and 1980s repeatedly caused discussion. Several defects were found in the reactors in the neighboring country, such as decayed concrete parts. In the past, the city of Aachen and the federal government have called for the closure of the nuclear power plants. In Belgium, the nuclear phase-out was actually already laid down in law in 2003, but the discussion has been dragging on for years. Six reactors are still connected to the grid, a seventh was switched off last year.
(SDA)