“I will say that I am getting out of [nuclear] only when I am sure I have an alternative ready,” [the Belgian energy chief] said. Nuclear power accounts for roughly 55% of Belgium’s electricity production.
From the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Nuclear Notes:
Germany is a big country with a big problem when it comes to closing its nuclear plants. Belgium is a smaller country with the same problem and somehow it’s still a pretty big one:
“With just three years to go before Belgium is due to begin phasing out nuclear power, the country is still grappling with basic questions about its plans, including whether the 2015 deadline has to be adjusted to ensure electricity supplies remain reliable.”
To be honest, if you want to close nuclear plants, you have to prepare for the loss of a lot of electricity and the very real possibility that the price to customers will go up, in some cases considerably. Belgium hasn’t prepared for any of this.
I’m actually looking forward to Germany and Belgium closing all their nuke plants and installing too high a proportion of “renewables” in the next 3 or 4 years. They will drive their electric rates substantially higher, and still have blackouts and brownouts, possibly cascading into their neighbors due to the inherent instabilities or wind and solar power. Since they’ll be well ahead of the US in this, we should have plenty of warning of the inevitable results of pursuing these kinds of idiotic policies in the US.
If you want an interesting take on Nuclear Power, Look at the new Westinghouse AP1000 that has just been approved by the NRC. Pretty cool! They are also looking into smaller modular power plants, with the same safety and capability. 4 are being built in China as we speak.
And with Germany destabilizing the surrounding grids, frequent blackouts are a real possibility too. Closing their nuclear plants without a reliable replacement for all that generating capacity is sheer madness. Unless Belgium wants to join the ranks of third world countries.