Support by the Belgian public for keeping the country's nuclear power plants in operation beyond 2025 has risen to 46% of those surveyed, up from 30% recorded in a 2017 poll. The percentage of respondents who believe the share of nuclear power in Belgium's electricity mix should be reduced has fallen to 59% from 75% in 2017. Trade body Forum Nucléaire says the increase in support shown by the 18-month barometer survey is "remarkable".

Units 1 and 2 of Belgium's Doel nuclear power plant can continue operating, even though a law extending their operation was adopted without the required environmental assessments or public consultation being carried out first, the European Court of Justice ruled today.

Belgium will need more capacity than previously forecast to cope with its planned nuclear exit and is not yet ready for any scenario, a new report by Belgian grid operator Elia has found. Meanwhile, a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency has completed a review on the long-term operation of two of the country's nuclear power plants.

Belgium's nuclear security regime is robust, an international team of experts has concluded after a two-week follow-up review led by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The availability of Engie's Belgian nuclear power plants will rise to 78% this year, from 52% last year, according to its 2018 financial statement released yesterday. That percentage is expected to increase to 79% in 2020 and 93% in 2021, it added.

Ondraf/Niras, the Belgian agency for the management of radioactive waste, yesterday submitted a completed licence application for the construction of a low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal facility at Dessel.

Belgium's regulatory body, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control, has approved the restart of unit 2 of the Doel plant following repairs to a corroded pipeline in a safety cooling water circuit. Repairs to the same pipeline in Doel 1 continue.

Belgium's Nuclear Research Centre and the Institut National des Radioéléments are to collaborate on a project to recycle highly radioactive residues resulting from the production of radioisotopes for medical purposes.

Sarens has unveiled the world's largest crane which will be used for all major lifting at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, England. Meanwhile, PaR Systems will make a crane for NuScale's small modular reactor in Idaho, USA.

China and Belgium have signed a framework agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The agreement was one of several accords signed in Brussels yesterday during a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.

Scheduled outages at Belgium's Tihange 2 and 3 have been further extended while concrete degradation issues in adjacent non-nuclear buildings are addressed, operator Electrabel has announced.

A framework cooperation agreement has been signed between Norway's Institute for Energy Technology and Belgium's Nuclear Research Centre, through which the two organisations will extend their collaboration on nuclear research and decommissioning.