Industry welcomes decision and calls for government to set up urgent ‘task force’ on next steps
Belgium’s parliament on 15 May voted to drop the country’s planned nuclear phaseout in what was welcomed as a decisive step for the economic, environmental and strategic future of the country.
The motion was passed with 102 votes in favour, eight against and 31 abstentions.
“The federal parliament has just turned the page on two decades of blockages and hesitation to pave the way for a realistic and resilient energy model,” energy minister Mathieu Bihet of the centre-right Reformist Movement party was quoted by news outlets as saying.
“This is not just an energy reform; it is a decisive step for the economic, environmental, and strategic future of our country,” he said.
The Brussels-based Belgian Nuclear Forum welcomed the new legislation, saying Belgium is signalling to the rest of the world that it is once again taking a rational look at energy policy and the climate challenge by no longer ideologically excluding nuclear energy as part of the solution
Serge Dauby, the forum’s managing director, said: “At the same time, this is only a first – but necessary – step in the nuclear revival.
“To successfully realise the nuclear revival, we urgently need to gather all stakeholders in a ‘task force’. We have already lost too much time during the last legislature.”
Dauby said Belgium needs a realistic and fact-based long-term strategy for energy policy.
Nuclear Sector Ready To Work With Energy Minister
“Our industry and our citizens deserve a serious approach, away from ideological dogmas,” he said. “The nuclear sector is putting itself at the disposal of the energy minister to help him and his administration achieve our country’s goals of energy transition and energy security.”
The 2003 nuclear phaseout law imposed a closure date on Belgium’s nuclear power plants, while also prohibiting the construction of new ones. At the time there were seven commercial nuclear plants in operation. That number is now four.*
In 2022, in light of concerns about security of supply in the context of the energy crisis and the Russian war against Ukraine, the Belgian federal government decided to keep the two newest Belgian nuclear power plants – Doel-4 and Tihange-3 – in operation for an additional 10 years.
In March, French energy group Engie formalised a 10-year extension of the Doel-4 and Tihange-3 nuclear power plants in Belgium in partnership with the Belgian state.
Belgium’s government had earlier announced plans to secure the country’s reliance on nuclear energy, aiming for a 4 GW share in the electricity mix as part of efforts to secure a carbon-free baseload capacity. The four reactors remaining in operation have a net capacity of around 3.4 GW
* In February 2025 the Doel-1 nuclear power station was permanently shut down. Doel-3 and Tihange-2 had already been shut down in 2022 and 2023. The four reactors remaining in operation are Doel-2, Doel-4, Tihange-1 and Tihange-3.
