Belgium reverses phase-out policy as Denmark reconsiders nuclear

[NNadir]

Belgium reverses phase-out policy as Denmark reconsiders nuclear

Belgium's federal parliament has voted by a large majority to repeal a 2003 law for the phase-out of nuclear power and banning the construction of new nuclear generating capacity. Meanwhile, the Danish parliament has approved an analysis of the potential use of nuclear, which has been banned for the past 40 years.

Belgium's federal law of 31 January 2003 requires the phase-out of all nuclear electricity generation in the country. Under that policy, Doel 1 was originally set to be taken out of service on its 40th anniversary – 15 February 2015. However, the law was amended in 2013 and 2015 to provide for Doel 1 to remain operational for an additional ten years. Duel 3 was closed in September 2022 and Tihange 2 at the end of January 2023. Unit 1 of the Tihange plant is set to shut in October this year, with Doel 2 following in December.

Belgium's last two reactors - Doel 4 and Tihange 3 - were scheduled to close in November 2025. However, following the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022 the government and Electrabel - the Belgian subsidiary of Engie - began negotiating the feasibility and terms for the operation of the reactors for a further 10 years, with a final agreement reached in December, with a balanced risk allocation...

...Serge Dauby, managing director of the Belgian Nuclear Forum, added: "It is not just a symbolic victory, this is really a historic milestone. At last, we as Belgium, a country with an enormous amount of nuclear know-how, are signaling to the rest of the world that we are once again taking a rational look at energy policy and the climate challenge, by no longer ideologically excluding nuclear energy as part of the solution..."

...Forty years ago, in 1985, the Danish parliament passed a resolution that nuclear power plants would not be built in the country.

But in a parliamentary vote on Thursday, two-thirds of Danish MPs supported the country launching an investigation into the possible use of nuclear power to enhance its energy security.

"Denmark has no recent experience with nuclear power, which is why it is important that we start analysing the potential," Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard was cited as saying by Reuters...

Phasing out nuclear power kills people. Some people in Europe seem to be waking up to that fact.

[JBTaurus83]

1. Good

We need anything other than fossil fuels that we can get.