The Future of Nuclear Power in Belgium: Expert Perspectives and Political Debate

2023-11-10 17:17:00

“The file is not closed. There is always a risk that Doel 4 and Tihange 3 will not be extended,” said Damien Ernst, professor at ULiège, Thursday evening on the LN24 set. For sure. According to him, Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen) would play extra time to not act on anything before the 2024 elections, while environmentalists would be fundamentally anti-nuclear, according to him.

Tinne Van der Straeten: “Belgium will not run out of electricity”

An opinion shared by Marie Christine Marghem (MR), former Minister of Energy and member of the Energy Commission in the House. “Each time, the deadlines are exceeded for the submission of reports and others,” she says, asserting that the minister would not respect the deadlines. A minister “whom we had to take to the chopping block to make her realize the supply problem in Belgium,” she says.

On the side of the Van der Straeten cabinet, we regret these attacks described as political.

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“The restart of Doel 4 and Tihange 3 after maintenance is a given.”

“On October 24, the minister and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) came to explain the agreement of July 21 to parliamentarians in detail, with all the stages, until the restart planned for November 2025. And let us remember that at the start of the negotiations with Engie, it was planned for 2026. the minister is working on the issue of nuclear waste with a vision going beyond 2050. With binding elements. But the restart of Doel 4 and Tihange 3 after the interview is a given. Everyone, including Engie Electrabel, is working in this direction,” retorts Stéphanie Maquoi, spokesperson for the minister.

According to Damien Ernst, questions of standards currently being discussed would be a way of letting the issue drag on. But the spokesperson retorts firmly. “We translate all discussions into legal agreements, where every comma counts. We don’t play for time, we check everything,” she says, repeating that the State managed to move from a “no” to a “yes” with Engie and would not intend to deviate from the path announced on that question. No member of the Energy Committee in the House has been able to answer us on this subject at the moment.

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“It’s still scandalous… Marghem is in a permanent game. But we avoided the worst.”

“It’s still scandalous… Marghem is in a permanent game. But we avoided the worst. When she was in charge of Energy, the exit from nuclear power was in place but nothing was prepared and we were banking on the opening of nine gas power plants to ensure the transition. Gas, with all the problems that entails,” continues the spokesperson for the Minister of Energy.

As for whether Minister Van der Straeten has radically changed her position on nuclear power since taking office, she argues that “the war in Ukraine has changed views on nuclear power. But also on gas. If we had continued as we started (with the previous legislature, Editor’s note), we would have nothing today,” she continues. “This energy crisis has led to stratospheric prices… We have made progress on this issue, while succeeding in protecting the purchasing power of the lowest incomes,” she points out. “Move forward without drama”, the minister rightly declared to La Libre on this issue.

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