Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Nuclear Country Notes

Belgium

A total of seven reactors were constructed between 1975 and 1985, four units at Doel and three at Tihange; they are all of the PWR type, with a current aggregate net generating capacity of 5 801 MWe. In 2005, nuclear power provided about 56% of Belgium's electricity generation.

In January 2003, Belgium's Senate voted for a nuclear phase-out law which stipulates that all seven units shall be closed after completing 40 years of operation. The first reactors are thus due to be shut down in 2015, the last in 2025. However, the preliminary report of a study commissioned by the Federal Energy Ministry, released in November 2006, concludes that the substantial change in circumstances since the passing of the phase-out law 'requires a paradigm shift of the current official Belgian standpoint on nuclear power'.