Isra-Mart srl: Belgium latest country to consider a nuclear exit

www.isramart.com

Belgium could become the latest country to abandon nuclear power, confirming yesterday that it will shut down its two remaining nuclear power stations if alternate sources can be found.

The country's two main parties, which have been negotiating a new coalition government since elections in June 2010, are understood to be discussing the matter as part of those talks.

The country has seven nuclear reactors divided between its two nuclear sites at Doel and Tihange, both operated by Electrabel, part of GDF-Suez.

It will shut down the oldest three reactors by 2015 under a 2003 ruling, and could now deliver a complete shut down by 2025 if sufficient alternative generation can be developed to replace the 5,860MW of capacity that will be lost.

"If it turns out we won't face shortages and prices would not skyrocket, we intend to stick to the nuclear exit law of 2003," a spokeswoman for Belgium's energy and climate ministry told news agency Reuters. "The government will actively look for new investors and sites that are still unused to see what can be done."

The events at Fukushima earlier in the year have persuaded several nations that the future lies in renewable energy rather than nuclear.

Germany is the largest nation to abandon the technology and will turn off its remaining reactors in 2022. However, Switzerland will also phase out all its reactors by 2034, while Italians overwhelming voted against a new nuclear programme in a national plebiscite.

However, the UK still plans to push ahead with its £50bn build programme after the country's reactors were given the all-clear in a wide-ranging safety investigation.