The Doel nuclear power plant, in Belgium, during a time of operation. (Photo: Alexandre Jacquemin)
After 50 years of operation, Unit 1 at Belgium’s Doel nuclear power plant has been permanently shut down.
Just weeks ago, Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever talked about trying to keep Doel-1, which was retired on February 14, in operation. He faced an uphill battle, however, given the decades the nation has spent arguing about nuclear energy. In 2003, Belgium enacted a law banning construction of new nuclear reactors and calling for eventual decommissioning of existing reactors, Belga News Agency reported.
De Wever, who became prime minister on February 3, wants the country to reverse course on nuclear. His government wants to retract the nuclear phaseout law, build new plants, and extend the lives of the Doel-4 and Tihange-3 reactors by at least 10 years on top of the existing 10-year extension approved by the previous government, according to Nuclear Engineering International.
Nuclear growth: According to Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet, the goal is to double Belgium’s current nuclear generation capacity of 4 GW and build new small modular reactors.
The agreement reached by the coalition government says that it “is committed to ensuring the extension of existing capacity in the short term and in the longer term we are investing in building new capacity.”
The Belgium Nuclear Forum (BNF), a group established to educate and advocate for the clean energy source, said, “There’s no time to lose to adjust the energy policy of recent years.” On its Facebook page, BNF also urged the government to establish a task force to study and support a nuclear revival.
A closer look: The nation has seven nuclear reactors—four at Doel and three more at Tihange—all of which are pressurized water reactors operated by Engie Electrabel, the Belgian subsidiary of France’s Engie.
Doel-1 is the third Belgian reactor to be definitively taken out of service. Doel-3 was permanently shut down in September 2022, followed by Tihange-2 in January 2023.
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