The Belgian Government and Engie announced on Monday the signing of an agreement that should specify the ten-year extension, starting in November 2026, of two of the seven nuclear reactors operated in Belgium by the French group. The two parties had been intensively negotiating for months the conditions of this extension decided in March 2022 by Belgium to guarantee its energy supply beyond 2025, in a context of uncertainties linked to the war in Ukraine.
The Belgian state and the energy company had already agreed to create a 50/50 joint venture to manage the two expanded reactors, following a preliminary agreement announced in July. From now on, the State’s commitment to the principle of caps on the cost of waste management -as requested by the operator- allows us to move on to the next stage, and “start immediately” the studies prior to the expansion of Doel. 4 and Tihange 3, respectively near Antwerp (north) and Liège (east). These are environmental and technical studies prior to the green light given by the Belgian nuclear control authority.
“Work can start tomorrow for the extension of the two most recent reactors,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a news conference, hailing “a big step forward.” “Through this agreement, the two parties confirm their objective to implement their best efforts to restart the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 nuclear units in November 2026,” it is underlined in a press release from the Foreign Ministry and Engie.
The exit of nuclear energy is postponed
The Belgian government announced on March 18 its decision to postpone its full exit from nuclear power by ten years, which was initially scheduled for 2025. The seven reactors were to stop production in stages between the end of 2022 and 2025, and one of them It has already been closed at the end of September. But the Engie group, which had considered the announcement of two extensions late, demanded a series of feasibility conditions, in particular a cap on the costs associated with the treatment of radioactive waste and spent fuel.
The agreement signed this Monday defines “the framework of a future ceiling”, whose amounts themselves are yet to be calculated after collaboration between various administrations. The government said it expected “the conclusion of full agreements in the coming months.” “The cap amounts should be announced in March-April,” a source familiar with the matter said.
Source: BFM TV
