Fossil fuels produced just 33% of the EU's power in the first half of this year, the lowest share on record based on data going back to 1990, researchers said on Wednesday.
The problem is that Belgium finished all, but one reactor within a decade and they provide about half of Belgiums electricity production. So with them aging and becoming less reliable as all old infrastructure does, they need to be shut down. At the time the reactors had a planned lifetime of 40 years and when shut down they are 50 years old. Also only three of the five reactors will be shut down by 2025, the other two will run until 2035, when they hit 50 years of operation.
So basicly a lack of foresight of Belgian governments for a long time, to not work on proper alternatives.
Meanwhile, Belgium is phasing out nuclear in favor of gas burning plants
I’m no supporter of nuclear but that’s a bad move
The problem is that Belgium finished all, but one reactor within a decade and they provide about half of Belgiums electricity production. So with them aging and becoming less reliable as all old infrastructure does, they need to be shut down. At the time the reactors had a planned lifetime of 40 years and when shut down they are 50 years old. Also only three of the five reactors will be shut down by 2025, the other two will run until 2035, when they hit 50 years of operation.
So basicly a lack of foresight of Belgian governments for a long time, to not work on proper alternatives.
This was a great opportunity to quote Douglas Adams! :)
“This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”