Belgium Plans To Nationalize Nuclear Power Plants (bbc.com) 21
Belgium plans to buy its seven aging nuclear reactors from French power giant Engie in a "full takeover" aimed at securing domestic energy supplies, extending reactor operations, and developing new nuclear capacity. "The move would also mean suspending plans to decommission nuclear operations in Belgium," reports the BBC. From the report: The move would reverse the phase-out of nuclear energy legislation approved in the early 2000s amid safety concerns prohibiting the building of new nuclear power plants and limiting the operating lifetimes of existing ones to 40 years. Only two of Belgium's seven nuclear reactors are operational - located at plants in Doel and in Tihange - and their operating licenses were recently extended until 2035. The other five reactors were shut between 2022 and 2025 and plans to dismantle them will now be suspended.
Engie and the government said they aim to reach an agreement on the takeover of the nuclear stations by October 1st. In a joint statement with Engie, the Belgian government said the move also highlights its aim to extend operations of existing nuclear reactors and to develop "new nuclear capacity" in Belgium. "By doing so, the Belgian Government is taking responsibility for Belgium's long-term energy future, with the objective of building a financially and economically viable activity that supports security of supply, climate objectives, industrial resilience and socio-economic prosperity," the statement adds.
Engie and the government said they aim to reach an agreement on the takeover of the nuclear stations by October 1st. In a joint statement with Engie, the Belgian government said the move also highlights its aim to extend operations of existing nuclear reactors and to develop "new nuclear capacity" in Belgium. "By doing so, the Belgian Government is taking responsibility for Belgium's long-term energy future, with the objective of building a financially and economically viable activity that supports security of supply, climate objectives, industrial resilience and socio-economic prosperity," the statement adds.
Socialize losses, Privatize profits (Score:1)
I hate when the wrong lesson is taken from the USA.
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1. Ban nuclear in the law
2. Buy nuclear plants
3. Unban nuclear
4. Profit
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I hate when the wrong lesson is taken from the USA.
It's kinda sad when you allow your enemy to live in your head rent free. Must suck to read a story about Belgium nuc plants than the only thing you can think of is posting anti-US hate. Frist Psot too - Your day is complete.
happy (Score:2)
Re: happy (Score:3)
As a Belgian, I am not that happy about the idea of re-nationalizing TGEM with Engie.
The nuclear provisions fund (via Synatom) was supposed to cover decommissioning and waste. It was built up during decades when the plants were still public and nit profitable. But a big part of that money was lent back to Electrabel, which then could generate profits on it and pay dividends to Engie shareholders.
So profits where privatized, and now the longterm risks become public again. Restarting these plants will take ad
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Having an aluminium plant working only in the summer is not going to be profitable. Having batteries with only 1 charge cycle per year would be even worse.
Unless Belgium itself has water shortages, desalinating seawater in Belgium is not a good idea. You are not going to move that water to Saudi Arabia it would be more expensive than desalinating over there. The world doesn't have a fresh water shortage. We only have local shortages in some places and it turns out it's often cheaper to desalinate seawater i
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I think the idea of power plants being "profitable" is part of the problem. Collectively Europe needs more winter generating capacity, preferably not reliant on imported energy. Your choices come down to coal or nuclear. If you are using them as low capacity factor sources, either is going to be expensive to run. A potential advantage of existing nuclear plants is that you have a 4-7 month window every year to phase upgrade projects. As upgrade requirements drop you have the potential for low-to-zero cost e
Tihange is dangerous (Score:4)
Some years ago the Dutch government distributed iodine pills for everyone under the age of 18 who lives in a certain radius of the plant. The plant is old and should be shut down.
Re: Tihange is dangerous (Score:3)
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Like most reactors in Europe, they are getting well past their design lifetime and only kept active by continual testing to demonstrate that degradation of the reactor vessel and systems is below some threshold of risk that the government is willing to tolerate.
Nationalizing them is inevitable. France did the same thing. They were always expensive and uncompetitive, but as they get older they reach the point where even the standard subsidies aren't enough and the government just has to take ownership.
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Like most reactors in Europe, they are getting well past their design lifetime and only kept active by continual testing to demonstrate that degradation of the reactor vessel and systems is below some threshold of risk that the government is willing to tolerate.
Nationalizing them is inevitable. France did the same thing. They were always expensive and uncompetitive, but as they get older they reach the point where even the standard subsidies aren't enough and the government just has to take ownership.
While we have people complaining about privatized profits and public losses, massive public money injection is the only way for nuclear fission to exist.
There is a reason that the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act exists in the USA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]–Anderson_Nuclear_Industries_Indemnity_Act No private company can absorb the worst case damage a large nuc plant can cause if it goes Oopsies. And commercial insurance for such a thing will either put the insurance comp
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We just don't need nuclear now. It's expensive, it's dangerous, it produces really nasty waste, and there are better solutions.
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I live relatively close to the Tihange plant (the plant is in Belgium, I live in the Netherlands). The reactor regularly automatically shuts down due to several issues. The concrete containment buildings are full of cracks, they are falling apart due to concrete degradation. Of one of those buildings the building plans have vanished.
The internals are certainly not going to be great either. The areas that are under constant irradiation don't improve. Neutron irradiation is an issue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org].
Some years ago the Dutch government distributed iodine pills for everyone under the age of 18 who lives in a certain radius of the plant. The plant is old and should be shut down.
I guess they can't claim they didn't know about the upcoming problem.
Precarious legal environment (Score:3)
Thank you (Score:1)
"Belgium plans to BUY its seven aging nuclear reactors "
Lots of people think 'nationalizing' is some patriotic act that doesn't cost anythin g.
It's not.
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"Belgium plans to BUY its seven aging nuclear reactors "
Lots of people think 'nationalizing' is some patriotic act that doesn't cost anythin g.
It's not.
I think lots of people are more questioning the concept of outsourcing your energy needs to another country, since that seems not merely anti-nationalist, but anti-country.
Long past time for Belgians to provide for themselves. Given their anti-maintenance stance, it’s a question if they actually know how. It’s also a question as to how much they actually need. The hell do you mean 5 out of 7 reactors are currently dead? If half your country isn’t sitting in the dark, do Belgians even k
gdfgsg (Score:1)
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Re: gdfgsg (Score:2)