…all of French energy giant Engie’s nuclear assets in the country. The move, announced today by Prime Minister Bart De Wever, aims to guarantee secure, affordable and low-carbon baseload power for decades to come…
This includes the two reactors still running under a 50/50 joint venture (Doel 4 and Tihange 3, extended until 2035) as well as the five units that were progressively shut down or placed in decommissioning mode.
With the decision, all decommissioning activities have been halted effective immediately…The country stated it has the ambition to run the existing power plants and also expand the. fleet with new nuclear capacity.
The Greens reacted negatively. “Buying up dilapidated nuclear reactors is an irresponsible waste of billions,” party President Aimen Horch said.
He also pointed to the unknown price tag, stressing that there was not enough money for pensions but suddenly the government now could take over old plants.
Belgium’s nuclear story has been one of repeated political U-turns.
IMO this is a risky financial negotiation. I am interested to see if the Belgian Government has the technical expertise to evaluate the financial risks, safety risks, and nuclear waste management/disposal risks.
Back in 2003 the Greens got a position in the coalition government and pushed through a nuclear phase-out by 2025.
In the disruption of the war in Ukraine in 2022, the government extended the operation of some reactors. They have now taken over all of the remaining reactors.
No - they are negotiating a deal and expect the final deal to be completed by 10/1/2026. I am interested to see if the Belgian Government has the technical expertise to evaluate the financial risks, safety risks, and nuclear waste management/disposal risks.
The valuation question is the one that matters most here and it is genuinely complex. Taking over plants mid-decommissioning means inheriting all the liability for waste management and any structural issues that may have been deprioritized once shutdown was the plan. France went through something similar with EDF and the costs ballooned well beyond initial estimates. That said, energy security concerns post-Ukraine have completely changed the political calculus across Europe and Belgium is not alone in revisiting decisions that seemed settled five years ago.
Exactly what I said when I posted: IMO this is a risky financial negotiation. I am interested to see if the Belgian Government has the technical expertise to evaluate the financial risks, safety risks, and nuclear waste management/disposal risks.