Belgium

Belgium has seven reactors in operation, contributing around 55 percent to the total electricity production.

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).

A near-surface repository for low- and intermediate-level waste is being planned at Dessel. The Belgian government approved construction of the facility in 2006. It is expected to start operating in 2016.

A report on the fundamental feasibility of geological disposal of high-level waste in clay (Boom Clays) was presented by On-draf (Organisme national des déchets radioactifs et des matières fissiles enrichies) in 2001. A proposal on how to proceed further in the programme will be submitted in 2010 and the government will then decide on the waste management strategy to be followed.

The Boom Clay has been under investigation since 1973 and, since 1984, in an underground rock laboratory at Mol.

Further information:

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