Belgium

Low- and intermediate-level waste has been stored at Mol and Dessel since 1986; high-level waste is stored at Dessel and spent fuel at Doel (since 1995) and Tihange (since 1997).

Preparations are underway at Dessel for a near-surface repository for low- and intermediate-level waste. The Belgian government approved construction of the facility in 2006. It is expected to start operating in 2017.

A report on the feasibility in principle of geological disposal of high-level waste in clay formations (Boom Clays) was presented by Ondraf (Organisme national des déchets radioactifs et des matières fissiles enrichies) in 2001. A proposal on how to proceed further in the programme was submitted at the end of 2011 and the government will now decide on the waste management strategy to be followed.

The Boom Clays have been under investigation since 1973, since 1984 in an underground rock laboratory at Mol.

Further information:

www.fanc.fgov.be (Federal Agency for Nuclear Control)
www.nirond.be (Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials)
www.sckcen.be (Belgian Nuclear Research Centre)