Belgium halts dismantling and opens negotiations on state takeover
The Belgian government announced exclusive negotiations with the French group ENGIE on Thursday regarding a possible takeover of all its nuclear activities in the country, and suspended ongoing dismantling work with immediate effect. Prime Minister Bart De Wever published the agreement via the network X and, in a joint statement with ENGIE, explained that the step is meant to secure for the country "safe, affordable and sustainable energy, with less dependence on fossil fuel imports and greater control over its own supplies." The parties want to agree on the framework conditions of the transaction by October 1, 2026, though this is not yet a binding sale. NOS ↗Belgium has seven reactors at two power plants — four at the Doel site near the Dutch border and three at Tihange near Liège, about 50 kilometers as the crow flies from the German border. Only two are still operating: Doel 4 and Tihange 3. After the 2022 energy crisis, the government extended their lifespan to 2035, and according to the Spanish daily El Mundo, the Belgian state would like to extend it even to 2045 for the pair of operating units. For the five shut-down units, including the disputed Tihange 2, where experts discovered thousands of so-called hydrogen flakes in the reactor pressure vessel in 2012 (media described them as microcracks), the suspension of dismantling is meant to leave the state options open for further assessment. Der Standard ↗
ENGIE is withdrawing from nuclear, has more than 8 billion reserved for dismantling
The French group ENGIE, which operated the Belgian reactors through its subsidiary Electrabel, is withdrawing from nuclear energy as planned. The head of the Belgian division, Vincent Verbeke, stated in 2025 that nuclear energy no longer belongs among the group's "strategic ambitions" — the group is reorienting itself toward renewable sources and flexible capacities. Under the new arrangement, the state is to take over the entire nuclear fleet, including personnel, subsidiaries, assets and liabilities, in particular the obligations for decommissioning and disposal. El Mundo, citing the Belgian daily Le Soir, writes that ENGIE has more than 8 billion euros reserved for dismantling, but there is a dispute between the parties over an additional approximately 2.9 billion — this is not about the takeover price, but about a dispute concerning the increase of historical reserves. El Mundo ↗From the 2003 exit back to nuclear
The Belgian law on the gradual phase-out of nuclear power was adopted by parliament in 2003 — the last reactor was originally meant to shut down by the end of 2025. However, the energy crisis following the Russian invasion of Ukraine forced the government to extend the two youngest units, and in May 2025 the Belgian Chamber of Representatives completely repealed the nuclear exit law. The government of Bart De Wever, whose leader chairs the Flemish-nationalist N-VA known for its pro-nuclear line, is according to Spiegel also considering building new reactors, although no concrete plans exist yet. Spiegel ↗Belgium is not alone. Western Europe is changing its stance on nuclear power
Belgium's turnaround is the most radical, but not isolated. In the Netherlands, following the outbreak of the war in Iran in June 2025, public opinion shifted sharply in favor of nuclear power — according to a survey for the daily Algemeen Dagblad, 56 percent of Dutch people wish for nuclear energy to play a bigger role in electricity production, citing higher energy prices as one of the main reasons. teraz.sk ↗The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, in mid-April in an interview for the daily La Stampa also recommended that Italy reconsider its ban on nuclear energy stemming from two referendums in 1987 and 2011 — otherwise the country risks returning to coal because of high gas prices. teraz.sk ↗
In Germany, according to a March survey by YouGov and the Sinus institute, 53 percent of citizens consider the shutdown of the last three reactors in 2023 to have been a mistaken decision, although only 39 percent support nuclear power in the future energy mix. Pravda ↗ The chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Jens Spahn, has openly come out in favor of restarting Germany's nuclear plants, although Chancellor Friedrich Merz has long described the exit as "irreversible." Die Zeit ↗
The roots of Belgium's turnaround already reach back to the crisis following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the instability following the war with Iran feeds into the same pressure: the IEA's executive director warned that restoring oil and gas production in the Middle East will take roughly two years, and Europe is meanwhile facing one of the biggest energy crises in modern history. Central European countries — Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary — have, meanwhile, never abandoned their nuclear strategy, and no political exits were ever adopted there; current investments in new units are, relative to the Western European turnaround, more a confirmation of continuity than a change of course.
What hotinfo is watching
- Whether the De Wever government reaches a binding agreement with ENGIE by October 1, 2026, and what the final financial terms of taking over the entire nuclear fleet will be.
- Whether Germany will join Belgium's move — Spahn's line within the CDU/CSU versus Merz's publicly declared "irreversible" exit.
- Whether Giorgia Meloni's Italian government will formally open the debate on lifting the nuclear ban following Birol's appeal.
