Research King Baudouin Foundation
The government must, as a matter of priority, start talking to other countries about joint underground disposal of nuclear waste. That is one of the most striking conclusions from the final report on the social debate about the storage of highly radioactive and long-lived waste from, among others, Belgian nuclear power stations.
The organization of that social debate about nuclear waste resulted last year from the agreement in principle within the Belgian government, in the autumn of 2022, that this waste must be stored deep underground. However, that is not immediate yet. It is expected that this will only happen from 2080 onwards.
At the request of Niras, the Belgian government agency responsible for the management and storage of nuclear waste, the King Baudouin Foundation has set up major consultation rounds since April last year. This included going to schools, setting up a youth forum and asking a number of experts for their opinions. The proposal to investigate whether it is feasible to share deep storage of nuclear waste with other countries is prominently on the to-do list of the final report published this afternoon. In that report, the Belgian government is asked to take political initiatives to this end, both within the EU and with neighboring countries.
In any case, that will be a difficult job. Because in a number of European countries with nuclear power stations – such as France, Sweden and Finland – there is a legal ban on the disposal of foreign nuclear waste. Minister of Energy Tinne Van der Straeten (Green) seems inclined to such a collaboration. At her request, Niras joined Erdo, a European organization that studies cooperation on ‘multinational’ disposal of long-lived nuclear waste. Up to seven European countries are involved. With its seven nuclear power stations, of which five are still running, Belgium is by far the most important member of Erdo.
Continue to look at alternatives
The social debate also showed that Belgium should keep “all realistic options” for nuclear disposal open, even though the government has in principle given the green light for a scenario of storage deep underground in our country. Keeping all options open means that alternatives must be “attentive and thoroughly explored and investigated” in order to continue to periodically compare all scenarios on a technical, scientific, social and financial level.
The report also calls for determining which locations may or may not be suitable for such a nuclear disposal site. This includes drawing up a “negative map” of areas in Belgium that do not qualify.
Independent government fund
After all, the social survey not entirely unexpectedly revealed that there is great concern about the financing of the storage and management of nuclear waste. Securing financing for future generations is a priority. For radioactive waste from Belgian nuclear power stations, following the agreement between the government and the French energy group Engie on the extension of the lifespan of two nuclear power stations, there is clarity about how much Engie will contribute (15 billion euros) on top of the amounts it has already reserved so far (8 billion euros). The 15 billion ends up in a government fund. The final report urges policymakers to ensure that the independence of that state fund is laid down in law. Belgium should take an example from the way in which Norway transfers the income from oil extraction on its territory to a large fund that must guarantee the pensions of the Norwegian population.
Finally, the Belgian government is advised to reserve the necessary amounts itself to finance the storage and management of its own nuclear waste. The cost of that operation is estimated at 6.3 billion euros. This includes the nuclear reactors of the Nuclear Energy Study Center in Mol and a former pilot factory (Eurochemic) for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
