Belgium plans to extend the life of one of its oldest nuclear reactors by a decade to avoid the danger of blackouts while atomic power is phased out, but decided to stick to a 2025 target date to exit nuclear power.
Belgium
plans
to extend the life of one of its oldest nuclear reactors by a decade to avoid
the danger of blackouts while atomic power is phased out, but decided to stick
to a 2025 target date to exit nuclear power.
The decisions highlight the dilemma that European countries seeking to stop
using a highly controversial energy source are facing--following political
priorities that often require a tight calendar while guaranteeing power
supplies, something that implies decades-long actions.
At a meeting Wednesday, the government decided to start phasing out nuclear
plants in 2015, in line with a 2003 law. By 2025, all seven reactors--which are
divided in two plants--will be shut, a spokeswoman said. However, it also
agreed a 10-year extension of the lifespan of one of the country's oldest
reactors, she said.
Last year's atomic scare in
Japan
has
brought public opinion concerns about the dangers of using nuclear power to new
highs, prompting several European nations to reconsider their plans.
Germany
took
its neighbors by surprise by announcing an about-turn in policy and deciding to
shut all its nuclear plants by 2022. The new French government has said it
plans to cut its reliance on nuclear energy to 50% from the current 75% by
2025.
Belgium
's
state secretary for energy Melchior Wathelet, who Wednesday presented the plan
to his colleagues after months of work, had proposed to start the shut down in
2016, but ministers decided to stick to a 2003 law mandating a nuclear
phase-out starting in 2015.
The decade-long life extension of one reactor is expected to cost roughly 500
million euros ($629 million), a person familiar with the discussion said.
After years of equivocation from authorities, the decision offers the first
concrete sign of how
Belgium
will
likely deal with nuclear power.
Mr. Wathelet had to also strike a difficult political compromise among the
different parties that support the government--a coalition among socialists,
centrists and conservatives from the country's two, quarrelsome linguistic
communities.
Mr. Wathelet's plan "is a compromise, there is a little bit for everybody
in it," said Wim Vandenberghe, a lawyer and energy expert at law firm
Dechert LLP in
Brussels
. "It
remains to be seen how it will be translated into law."
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