"Belgium Eyes the Future with Proposal to Keep Older Reactors Running"

"Brace Yourself for a Nuclear Revolution!"

Doel units 1 and 2 (Image: Engie Electrabel)

The Belgian government is taking a bold step towards securing its energy future by asking ENGIE to investigate the possibility of extending the operation of the country's three oldest reactors - Doel 1 and 2 and Tihange 1 - until 2027. The clock is ticking and the reactors are scheduled to shut down in 2025, but the government has a plan to keep the lights on.

During the scorching summer months, the government hopes to reduce the electricity production of the reactors and extend their operation, ensuring energy supply security through the winter of 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. The energy ministry spokesman, Jonas Dutordoir, says, "The challenges faced in Ukraine and the French nuclear energy sector have prompted us to explore ways to create more certainty and reduce risks in energy supply."

The government has tasked ENGIE with conducting a safety assessment of the proposed "micro-extensions" of the three units and submitting a report to the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control by mid-March. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten will lead negotiations with the operator, Electrabel, the Belgian subsidiary of ENGIE.

Belgium's nuclear plants produce almost half of the country's electricity and the government is expected to make a decision on the extensions by the end of March. The country's federal law of 31 January 2003 requires the phase-out of all nuclear electricity generation, but the current arrangement will see most of Belgium's nuclear generation capacity phased out by 2025.

Under a plan announced by Belgium's coalition government in December 2021, Doel 3 was shut down in September and Tihange 2 was shut down at the end of last month. The newer Doel 4 and Tihange 3 are scheduled to shut down by 2025, but ENGIE and the Belgian federal government signed an agreement in January 2023 to restart the reactors in 2026 and operate them for an additional ten years.

So, hold on tight, Belgium is embarking on a nuclear revolution and the future looks bright!

There are several factors that can influence the decision to extend or not extend a nuclear power plant:

Economics: The cost of operating and maintaining a nuclear power plant, as well as the cost of decommissioning and disposing of radioactive waste, can be significant. The decision to extend the plant may depend on whether the plant is economically viable or not.

Safety: The safety of a nuclear power plant is of utmost importance. The decision to extend the plant may depend on whether the plant is meeting safety standards and whether any upgrades are needed to meet those standards.

Energy needs: The energy needs of the region may change over time. The decision to extend the plant may depend on whether the plant is still needed to meet energy demands, or whether alternative sources of energy, such as renewable energy sources, have become more feasible.

Public opinion: Public perception of nuclear power can play a role in the decision to extend a plant. If there is strong public opposition to nuclear power, the decision to extend the plant may be influenced by that opposition.

Environmental impact: The environmental impact of nuclear power, including the potential for radiation releases and the disposal of radioactive waste, must be considered when making the decision to extend a plant.

Ultimately, the decision to extend or not extend a nuclear power plant will depend on a complex set of factors and will require careful consideration of the costs and benefits of each option

source:(worldnuclearnews)

#Nuclearenergy #Belgium #Energypolicy

Comments

Hot Topics

Blowout at Cape Station: Fervo Energy’s First Major Crisis After Blockbuster IPO

Just weeks after a record-breaking IPO, the flagship project of the "geothermal unicorn" faces its first major operational crisis. By : Robert Buluma Beaver County, Utah – The morning of May 27, 2026, began like any other at the Cape Station construction site in rural Utah. Workers for Fervo Energy, the newly public darling of the renewable energy world, were engaged in the complex task of drilling deep into the Earth’s crust to unlock what the company promised would be the future of 24/7 clean power. But by the afternoon, the routine had turned into a crisis. The site had experienced a blowout—an uncontrolled release of fluid or pressure from a well. For any energy company, a blowout is a serious matter. For Fervo Energy, which had just raised $1.89 billion in a blockbuster Nasdaq debut two weeks prior, it represents an immediate stress test of its technology, its safety protocols, and its $7.7 billion market valuation. While the well has since been contained and no injur...

Rodatherm Energy: The Refrigerant Gambit

By: Robert Buluma Rodatherm Energy has done something no other geothermal startup has attempted at commercial scale: swapped water for refrigerant in a closed-loop system. The claim is 50% higher thermal efficiency than water-based binary cycles, achieved by circulating a proprietary phase-change fluid through a fully cased, pressurized wellbore. The company emerged from stealth in September 2025 with a $38 million Series A—the largest first venture raise in geothermal history. Lead investor Evok Innovations was joined by Toyota Ventures, TDK Ventures, and the Grantham Foundation. The engineering thesis is elegant. The execution risks are significant. This is an Alphaxioms examination of both. II. The Thermodynamic Distinction Every geothermal company you've covered moves heat using water or steam. Rodatherm moves heat using a fluid that boils and condenses inside the wellbore. In a conventional closed-loop water system (Eavor's model), water circulates as a single-phase liq...

The Retrofit Revolution: How GreenFire Energy Is Turning Abandoned Oil & Geothermal Wells Into Continuous Clean Power Without New Drilling

The Retrofit Revolution: How GreenFire Energy Is Unlocking Geothermal Power Without Drilling a Single New Well By: Robert Buluma While much of the geothermal energy sector has been focused on breakthrough drilling techniques—deeper wells, hotter reservoirs, and complex engineered systems—a quieter revolution has been unfolding in the background. Instead of chasing entirely new subsurface frontiers, one company has chosen a radically simpler question: What if the answer was already in the ground? GreenFire Energy is advancing a retrofit-first geothermal strategy that targets one of the most overlooked opportunities in the global energy transition: existing wells that are underperforming, depleted, or completely abandoned. Rather than drilling new holes into the Earth, the company is reusing the infrastructure that already exists—turning stranded assets into continuous sources of clean, baseload electricity. This approach is not just technically elegant. It may also be one of ...

"Below the Surface: How Baker Hughes is Drilling the 24/7 Clean Energy Solution"

Below the Surface: How Baker Hughes is Drilling the 24/7 Clean Energy Solution By: Robert Buluma The geothermal era has arrived — and Baker Hughes is holding the drill. While much of the energy world remains fixated on LNG exports and offshore wind, a quieter revolution is taking place beneath our feet. Baker Hughes (BKR) , the Houston-based energy technology giant, has assembled what may be the most comprehensive geothermal partnership network in the industry — positioning itself as the go-to industrial executor for next-generation geothermal power. In 2026 alone, the company has locked in strategic collaborations spanning three continents, from the deserts of Saudi Arabia to the outback of Australia and the high-heat basins of the American West. The common thread? Baker Hughes is applying a century of oil and gas drilling expertise to unlock geothermal energy at industrial scale — and the data center boom is providing the perfect market catalyst. The Strategy: "G...

Mazama Energy Newberry Superhot Geothermal Breakthrough Reshapes Clean Energy

Mazama Energy’s Superhot Rock Vision Redefines Global Geothermal Power By Robert Buluma The geothermal industry is entering a new era, and one company is pushing the boundaries of what was once considered technically impossible. Mazama Energy has ignited global attention after revealing extraordinary progress at its Newberry geothermal site in central Oregon, where it reportedly achieved temperatures of 331°C in an enhanced geothermal system environment. For an industry accustomed to operating within the 150°C to 300°C range, this milestone is more than impressive — it signals the possible beginning of a technological transformation capable of reshaping the future of clean baseload power. For decades, geothermal energy has quietly remained one of the most reliable renewable energy resources on Earth. Unlike solar and wind, geothermal power does not depend on weather conditions, sunlight, or seasonal variability. It delivers continuous electricity twenty-four hours a day, seven ...

The Heat Beneath Our Feet: How Canada’s First National Geothermal Roadmap Could Redefine Clean Energy

The Heat Beneath Our Feet: Canada Invests in First National Geothermal Energy Roadmap By: Robert Buluma Image: The Eavor Wonder, something amazing 👏 Calgary, Alberta – June 11, 2026 – In a move that signals a significant shift toward diversifying its clean energy portfolio, the Government of Canada has officially invested in its first national roadmap for deep geothermal energy. The announcement, made today by the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources , marks a pivotal moment for a country better known for its oil sands and hydroelectric dams than for harnessing the heat of the Earth’s crust. With a conditional investment of $468,000 through Natural Resources Canada’s Energy Innovation Program , the government is backing the Canadian Deep Geothermal Roadmap project. Led by the Canadian Deep Geothermal Coalition and supported by the Cascade Institute as the secretariat, this initiative aims to create a cohesive, evidence-based strate...

Eavor Geretsried Geothermal Breakthrough: Inside the Closed-Loop Energy Revolution, Drilling Challenges, and Path to Scalable Clean Power

The Geothermal “Holy Grail” Just Got a Reality Check: Inside Eavor’s Geretsried Breakthrough By: Robert Buluma May 22, 2026 It’s not every day a deep-tech energy company publishes a detailed technical report that openly documents what went wrong on its flagship project—and still comes out looking stronger. That’s exactly what Eavor Technologies did with its Geretsried geothermal project in Bavaria, Germany. The result is unusually transparent: part technical post-mortem, part validation of a technology many have doubted for years. And the core message is simple. They built it. It works. But it wasn’t smooth. The short version Eavor is trying to solve one of geothermal energy’s hardest problems: how to produce reliable heat and power anywhere, not just in rare volcanic hotspots. Their claim has always been bold: a closed-loop geothermal system that is scalable, dispatchable, low-carbon, and independent of natural reservoirs. Critics have long argued it wouldn’t survive...

The XGS Energy Heat Sponge Solves Geothermal's Biggest Problem

The XGS Energy Heat Sponge Solves Geothermal's Biggest Problem I mage: A californian XGS well pad Imagine drilling a hole into the Earth’s hot crust but instead of simply dropping in a pipe and hoping for the best, you paint the inside of that hole with a magic material that soaks up heat like a sponge soaks up water. Then you seal it, circulate a fluid, and generate clean, firm electricity 24/7, no fracking, no water consumption, no earthquakes. That’s not science fiction. That’s XGS Energy . While most of the geothermal world has been chasing fracked reservoirs or massive drilling rigs, XGS quietly built a prototype, ran it for over 3,000 hours in one of the harshest geothermal environments on Earth, and landed a 150 MW deal with Meta – enough to power tens of thousands of homes or a massive data center campus. This is the story of a technology that might be the most elegant, low-risk, and capital-efficient path to scalable geothermal power. Let’s dig in. Part 1: The Pro...

Project Obsidian: Unlocking Superhot Geothermal Power from Deep Earth

Quaise Energy and the Dawn of Superhot Geothermal Power in Oregon By: Robert Buluma Inside Project Obsidian and the Future of Deep Earth Energy The global energy transition has long been defined by solar panels on rooftops, wind turbines across plains, and batteries reshaping grids. Yet beneath all these familiar technologies, another contender is quietly emerging—one that does not depend on weather, daylight, or even surface conditions at all. It comes from deep within the Earth itself, from rock so hot it behaves almost like a molten energy reservoir. That is the frontier where Quaise Energy is now operating. In Oregon, the company is developing what could become the world’s first superhot geothermal power plant under its ambitious initiative known as Project Obsidian . If successful, it could mark a fundamental shift in how humanity produces clean, continuous electricity—moving from shallow geothermal pockets to tapping heat sources several kilometers beneath the Earth’s surfac...

Sage Geosystems: Turning Underground Pressure Into 24/7 Power

Sage Geosystems : The Geothermal Startup That Turns Pressure Into Power By: Robert Buluma Most conversations about advanced geothermal circle around the same question: How do you extract heat from dry rock? Sage Geosystems started with a different question: What if the Earth could do most of the work for you? Based in Houston, Sage has quietly built a technology stack that treats the subsurface not just as a heat source, but as a pressure vessel. Their system captures heat and mechanical energy, stores energy underground like a battery, and uses a fraction of the surface pumping that conventional geothermal requires. This article focuses entirely on Sage , how their technology works, what makes it genuinely different, and where the blind spots still are. Part I: The Core Innovation , Pressure Geothermal Sage's foundational insight is simple but powerful: deep hot rock isn't just hot. It's also under immense natural pressure. Traditional geothermal systems ignore that pre...

ALPHAXIOMS Geothermal News & Energy Research

Search This Blog