The agreement concluded between the seven partner parties of the government coalition, however, does not close the new generation nuclear door.
Le Monde with AFP
Belgium intends to close, as expected, its seven nuclear reactors by 2025, announced on Thursday, December 23 the Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo. An agreement on this particularly sensitive issue was concluded at the dawn between the seven partner parties of the government coalition, after a night of negotiations.
The progressive exit of nuclear power has been entered in the Act since 2003, but the successive governments have been slow to develop the capacities to compensate for the cessation of the seven reactors, with a cumulative power of 6 gigawatts (GW). The last deadline for a complete stop of these old plants is 2025, a date that the current government, entered into office in October 2020, is committed to respecting.
Decision under conditions
Despite the opposition of the Francophone Liberals of the MR, one of the seven parties of the coalition, the judgment of the seven reactors on the horizon of 2025 was confirmed under certain conditions.
The government wants to guarantee “the energy supply security” and “price control”, reaffirmed Alexander de Croo at a press conference. Nuclear nuclear accounts for about 40% of the electricity produced in Belgium. “We have planned several moments of evaluation to verify that we are on the right track,” added the Flemish Liberal leader.
He mentioned an appointment in mid-March to verify that an alternative solution is possible if the license to build a new gas plant near Brussels is still not granted. This plant, planned on the commune Flemish of Vilvoorde, is a key facility in the government system to ensure security of supply.
But in early November, the Minister of the Environment of the Flemish Region had refused the license to the French Group ENGIE, the operator selected after a federal auction system. According to a government source, it is contemplated as an alternative to opt for an unselected installation during the auction, as soon as it already displays a permit.
One hundred million euros for the nuclear power of New generation
The Governmental Agreement does not close the new generation nuclear door. It provides for an investment of about 100 million euros in new generation nuclear research, namely small modular reactors (SMRs), presented as “safer”.
“It is with an open look at the innovation and the new technologies we are considering the energy future,” said M. de Croo, reminiscent of the objective of carbon neutrality on the horizon of 2050, to which Also contribute renewable energies (solar, offshore wind).
For his part, the leader of the Francophone Liberals, Georges-Louis Planz, did not file the weapons. He went so far as to say that “the release of nuclear power was not decided”, referring to the three-month period that the government reserves security. Maintaining certain capacities can always be activated “as a safety net”, he said, stressing that the Belgian Nuclear Security Authority (AFCN) also would have a say in early 2022.