Nuclear energy in Belgium
Encyclopedia
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
received its first nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
– an 11 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...
pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
— from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The country’s first commercial nuclear reactor began operating in 1974. Currently, Belgium has seven nuclear reactors operating in the country with a net MWe of 5,761. Electricity consumption in Belgium has increased slowly since 1990 and nuclear energy
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
provides 54%, 45 billion kWh per year, of the country’s energy.
Sites
There are two commercial power plants operational:- Doel Nuclear Power Station along the Scheldt river, near the port of AntwerpPort of AntwerpThe port of Antwerp, in Belgium, is a port in the heart of Europe accessible to capesize ships. Antwerp stands at the upper end of the tidal estuary of the Scheldt. The estuary is navigable by ships of more than 100,000 Gross Tons as far as 80 km inland. The inland location means that the port...
- Tihange Nuclear Power Station along the Meuse riverMeuse RiverThe Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
Besides those two, there is a test reactor at the SCK•CEN
SCK•CEN
SCK•CEN is the Belgian nuclear research centre located in Mol, Belgium. SCK•CEN is active in various areas of research and services in the nuclear sector.-Organisation profile:...
site in Mol
Mol
-Places:* City Municipality of Ljubljana, known after the acronym MOL in Slovene language * Märkisch-Oderland, a rural district of Brandenburg, Germany* Mol, Belgium, a municipality in Belgium* Mol, Serbia, a town in Serbia...
, which is used for research.
Waste
A national agency is responsible for radioactive wasteRadioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
management, including transport, treatment, conditioning, storage, and disposal. The main disposal facility is the SCK•CEN
SCK•CEN
SCK•CEN is the Belgian nuclear research centre located in Mol, Belgium. SCK•CEN is active in various areas of research and services in the nuclear sector.-Organisation profile:...
site close to the towns Mol
Mol
-Places:* City Municipality of Ljubljana, known after the acronym MOL in Slovene language * Märkisch-Oderland, a rural district of Brandenburg, Germany* Mol, Belgium, a municipality in Belgium* Mol, Serbia, a town in Serbia...
and Dessel
Dessel
Dessel is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Dessel proper. On January 1, 2006 Dessel had a total population of 8,773 inhabitants...
, which stores short-lived intermediate-level waste and high-level waste. Several shipments of reprocessed Belgian spent fuel, from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, have also arrived at the Mol-Dessel site.
Government policy
In the year 2000, a government appointed commission reported that nuclear energyNuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
was important to Belgium and recommended further development. However, in 2003 Belgium's Government
Belgian federal government
The Cabinet of Belgium is the executive branch of the Belgian federal government, consisting of ministers and secretaries of state drawn from the political parties which form the governing coalition. Formally, the ministers are appointed by the King...
, then a coalition which included the Green party Groen!, passed legislation which stipulated that no new reactors would be built and that Belgium's seven reactors would close between 2015–2025. When the law was being passed, there was speculation it would be overturned again as soon as an administration without Groen! was in power. A report published in 2005 by the Federal Planning Bureau
Federal Planning Bureau
The Federal Planning Bureau is a Belgian independent public agency. It makes studies and projections on economic, social and environmental policy issues and on their integration within the context of sustainable development...
noted that in many parts of Belgium nuclear power makes up more than 50% of the electricity generated. It would therefore be difficult for Belgium to adhere to the emissions targets of the Kyoto Protocols without nuclear power. In 2007, the Belgian Commission on Energy said that the use of nuclear energy is imperative to meet requirements and maintain economic stability. Furthermore, the commission believed that energy prices would double without the use of nuclear energy. The commission finally recommended that the operating lives of the seven nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s should be extended. In 2009, the government decided to extend the lifetimes of the three oldest reactors until 2025. In exchange, the owners will be charged an extra €215–245 million (about US$340 million) per year.
However this was not yet finalized into law when in 2010 the government resigned over unrelated issues.
This was considered to be a formality, that would be taken care of when a new government was formed. However a prolonged period of political instability without a government being formed followed. This continued until in March 2011 the Fukushima I nuclear accidents happened.
At which time the caretaker government
decided to postpone any debate or decision in the matter until after the results of an European stress-test of the facilities are known.
See also
- Energy in BelgiumEnergy in BelgiumEnergy in Belgium describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Belgium. Energy policy of Belgium will describe the politics of Belgium related to energy more in detail. Electricity sector in Belgium is the main article of electricity in Belgium.The Kingdom of Belgium...
- Wind power in BelgiumWind power in BelgiumWind power in Belgium depends partially on regional governments and partially on the Belgian federal government. Wind energy producers in both the Flemish and Walloon regions get green certificates but not with the same conditions. In 2009 996 GWh of electricity was produced...
- Electricity sector in BelgiumElectricity sector in BelgiumThe electricity sector in Belgium describes electricity in Belgium. Production by power source in 2009 was 53 % nuclear, 40 % fossil electricity and 7 % renewable electricity. 2 % of production was exported in 2009. In 2008 import was 11 %. Belgium is highly nuclear dependent country where the...