Belgium postpones its nuclear phase-out for ten years because of the war in Ukraine
Aerial view of the nuclear power plant in Doel, Belgium.
Alexandre Jacquemin/Wikimedia Commons
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
In Belgium, after months of procrastination, the federal government decided on Friday evening to extend the life of its two nuclear power plants.
Or rather to give up closing them.
Some parties in the ruling coalition had been trying for a few months to torpedo this closure which they considered absurd, but in the end the war in Ukraine and the uncertainties of supply will have won the decision.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Brussels
,
Pierre Bénazet
The decision in principle was taken 22 years ago: Belgium was to shut down its
nuclear power plants
by 2025. This commitment was reiterated in the current federal government's coalition agreement, but since then the war in Ukraine has put Belgium up against the wall and the exit from nuclear power is buried for the moment.
According to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the government has somehow obeyed the reality principle and ensured Belgium's energy security for the coming decade: "
What is important is that the security of supply is guaranteed and what is important for our consumers is that the electricity is there and that it is there in an affordable way
.
»
Two reactors, one in Flanders and the other in Wallonia, will therefore see their lifespan extended by ten years.
In exchange, great promises of investment in renewable energy for around one billion euros have been put forward.
But the replacement projects will have to prove themselves, because until now the project was to replace nuclear power with gas-fired power stations.
►
To read: Nuclear energy in eight questions
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Belgium
Nuclear
Ukraine
Energies
Alexander DeCroo