Belgium’s total primary energy supply (TPES) was 54 million tonnes of oil-equivalent (Mtoe) in 2014. This was 4,1% less than in 2013 and 8,4% less than in 2004, a decade earlier. Energy supply peaked at 61 Mtoe in 2010, after consistent growth for over 25 years. From 2010 to 2014, TPES declined by 11,4%.

With no domestic oil or natural gas production, Belgium relies on energy imports, particularly since the end of the coal mining era (the last mine was shut down in 1992). In 2014, domestic production accounted for 23,6% of TPES. Belgian energy policy is therefore guided by the concern to diversify both its sources of supply and its suppliers. Yet, due to its geographical location and well-developed infrastructure, Belgium plays an important role in Europe’s oil and gas supply chain.

The country mainly imports fossil fuels. In 2014, it imported 59,3 Mtoe of crude oil and oil products, and exported 28,9 Mtoe. Belgium houses one of the largest petro-chemical clusters in the world. In 2014, the country imported 32.188 kilotons (kt) of crude oil and 22.265 kt of oil products, while the level of inland demand for petroleum products has stagnated in recent years at 22.887 kt. Net imports of oil and oil products have declined by 8,8% from 2004, as domestic demand for oil has fallen and exports from the country’s large refining sector are growing. Belgium is a major hub of natural gas flows in the region, with some 16,83 billion cubic meters (bcm) being imported, of which 1,3 bcm of LNG. Of these imports 15,78 bcm are consumed domestically while 0,85 bcm are re-exported (2014). Natural gas imports amounted to 12,8 Mtoe in 2014, a 13,8% reduction compared to ten years prior.

Coal imports totalled 3,6 Mtoe with 0,5 Mtoe of coal products exports. Coal net imports were 87,2% lower in 2014 than in 2004.

TABLE 3. ESTIMATED AVAILABLE ENERGY SOURCES

* Solid, Liquid: Million tons; Gas: Billion m3; Uranium: Metric tons; Hydro, Renewable: TW

Note: Solid and gas reserves are not economically exploitable.

Source: FPS Economy – Energy Observatory

Belgium’s total final consumption (TFC) amounted to 41,8 Mtoe in 2013. (TFC is the final energy consumption by end-users in the form of electricity, heat, gas, oil products, etc. TFC excludes fuels used in electricity and heat generation and other energy industries (transformations) such as refining.) TFC represents around 77% of TPES, with the remainder used in power generation and other energy transformations (oil refining, iron and steel, cement). TFC has remained essentially flat since 2000. Demand peaked at 43,5 Mtoe in 2010 and has contracted by 4,1% since then.

Industry is the largest consuming sector, accounting for 45% of TFC in 2013. Demand in industry has increased by 2,9% over the past ten years, contracting by only 1,8% since 2008. Its share in TFC has increased marginally from 43,9% in 2003. The residential sector accounted for 21,4% and transport for 20,2% of TFC, and both have seen demand fall since 2003. TFC in households declined by 9% from 2003 to 2013, and its share in total TFC fell from 23,7%. TFC in transport decreased by 2,8% over the same period, but its share has remained unchanged.

The commercial and public services sector, including agriculture, fishing and forestry, has increased final energy demand over the past decade by 15,4%.

TABLE 4. ENERGY STATISTICS (in EJ)

* Latest available official data

** Energy consumption = Primary energy consumption + Net import (Import - Export) of secondary energy.

*** Solid fuels include coal, lignite

Source: FPS Economy – Energy Observatory

The competencies for economic and energy policy are distributed between the federal state and the regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region). The (linguistic) communities are primarily responsible for cultural affairs and education, which includes most of R&D funding.

However, policy related to the nuclear sector, the nuclear fuel cycle and R&D in both nuclear fusion and fission remains the exclusive competence of the federal government.

The federal government is competent for:

• Security of supply;

• National prospective studies;

• Nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear R&D programmes;

• Large stockholding installations;

• Production and transmission / transport of energy (electricity grid >70 kV), including large storage infrastructure;

• Transport tariffs (federal regulator – CREG);

• Energy statistics and balances;

• Offshore wind energy.

The federal government has the exclusive competence for nuclear energy and is responsible for ensuring the country's security of energy supply.

The regional competences are:

• Promotion of the efficient use of energy;

• New and renewable sources of energy (except nuclear);

• Non-nuclear energy R&D;

• Market regulation for distribution;

• Distribution and transmission of electricity (electricity grid <70 kV);

• Public distribution of natural gas;

• Distribution tariffs (regional regulators – VREG, CWaPE and Brugel);

• District heating equipment and networks;

• Recovery of waste energy from industry or other uses;

• Regional energy statistics and balances.

Though renewable energy sources are in principle the exclusive competency of the regions, the federal government administers the territorial waters and is therefore also responsible for regulating the development of offshore wind farms.

This division of competences between federal and regional governments required the establishment of several coordinating bodies.

In 1992, the federal government and the three regional governments created a formal body for discussions on all energy matters, called CONCERE/ENOVER (“Groupe de Concertation Etat - régions pour l’Energie” in French or “Energie-Overleggroep Staat - Gewesten ” in Dutch). This “Energy Consultation Group between the State and the regions” holds plenary monthly sessions and has a number of permanent (e.g. energy efficiency) and ad hoc (e.g. smart meters) thematic working groups.

The Federal Interdepartmental Commission for Sustainable Development (established in 1997) and the National Climate Commission (established in 2003) are two other policy making forums bringing together different stakeholders from regional and federal levels.

At federal level, energy matters are handled by the Federal Public Service (FPS) Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy and environmental issues are by the FPS Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, while the FPS Mobility and Transport is responsible for matters which interfere with both aforementioned.

Federal Public Services (FPS) are a specific feature of the Belgian institutional structure, they are equivalent to Ministries but their areas of responsibilities do not necessarily coincide with the areas covered by one specific Minister. Each FPS can report to several Ministers, and each Minister can have several FPSs under his/her authority.

Alongside the Federal Public Services, Belgium has federal Public Planning Services (PPSs) which handle ad hoc matters that require coordination between several FPSs, like the Sustainable Development PPS, created in 2002.

BELSPO, the Belgian Science Policy PPS, is responsible for research programmes, as well as for Belgium’s participation in European and international R&D organisations and networks.

The Federal Planning Bureau conducts modelling and analytical studies on economic, energy, social and environmental issues, and develops different scenarios and outlooks.

The Directorate-General for Energy, which is a part of the Federal Public Service for Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy, is the key administration that develops and implements energy policy. It created an Energy Observatory which became operational in April 2009. The main objectives of the Energy Observatory are to monitor the energy markets and to enhance energy security through the following actions:

• Collecting and disseminating of data on demand and supply;

• Processing of information on consumer protection, market access and unfair commercial practices;

• Establishment of a permanent consultation forum for stakeholders.

Since 11 October 2014, Mrs Marie Christine Marghem has been the federal Minister for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development in the federal government under Prime Minister Charles Michel.

The federal energy policy can be summarised as the triple-S approach: Security of supply, Sustainability and Safety:

1. The Security of Supply Policy is underpinned by an accurate assessment and monitoring of generation adequacy:

• To eliminate market distortions, improve the functioning of the internal energy market, support existing capacity and attract new investments;

• To propose, if needed, the required volume and the creation of a strategic reserve;

• To determine the timetable for the nuclear phase-out;

• To develop interconnections to contribute to base and peak load in the short and medium term;

• To integrate all possibilities of demand side management in order to deal with peak load in the short term;

• To operationalise the Emergency Response Management (ERM) for all energy vectors.

2. Sustainable energy:

• To promote renewable energy (offshore wind);

• To promote electro-mobility (electric vehicles);

• To promote biofuels;

• To promote energy efficiency;

• To promote a consumer-friendly energy policy (with focus on vulnerable consumers).

3. Safety:

• To ensure the safe management of radioactive waste;

• To ensure reliable and qualitative energy products (monitoring of control, certification and accreditation of the control of petroleum products, electric and gas appliances);

• To ensure a reliable and safe energy infrastructure through the implementation of national, European and international legislation (gas and electricity networks, EPCIP, FIPOL).

The priorities set by the current government can be summarized as follows:

• To ensure the security of electricity supply and to take the necessary measures to improve generation adequacy;

• To contribute to the completion of the internal European energy market and the development of strategic and interconnected European energy networks;

• To offer a stable and favourable investment climate favouring innovation and providing predictability through long term guarantees;

• To create transparency through faster publication of energy data by the Energy Observatory and through consultation procedures during the decision-making process;

• To monitor the energy price in order to guarantee the affordability of the energy bill for industry and households, while safeguarding competitiveness;

• To establish an inter-federal long term energy vision and energy pact (between the federal state and the regions.

Belgium signed in 1992 and ratified in 1996 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2002.

The implementation of climate change policies and measures is based on joint plans drawn up by the federal and regional governments, which set their own priorities and are free to determine their own goals within the scope of their powers. The regional governments have major responsibilities in areas such as rational use of energy, promoting renewable energy sources, town and country planning, agriculture and waste management (except for nuclear waste management, which is a federal matter).

On 4 December 2015, the federal and regional Ministers of the Environment reached an agreement on the burden sharing to attain the 2020 CO₂-reduction objectives Belgium committed to at the 21^st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Paris.

The liberalisation of the Belgian energy market began in April 1999 with the transposition of the first EU Directive on Electricity and Gas Markets. The Act of 1 June 2005 fully implemented the EU Directive 2003/54/EC on the common rules for the internal electricity market.

It should always be kept in mind that Belgium is a federal state and that the responsibilities for energy and hence electricity policy are distributed between the federal state and the regions. As a result, the Belgian electricity market is subdivided in a Flemish, a Walloon and a Brussels market, each of these markets only partly depending on the legal framework of the federal level.

Liberalisation has been carried out in gradual steps. The electricity market was legally fully opened on 1 June 2003 in Flanders. Wallonia and the Brussels Capital Region followed in 2004 and 2007. From 1 January 2007, supplier choice has been granted to all consumers in all regions.

The Third Energy Package (Directive 2009/72/EC and EC Regulation no. 714/2009 of 13 July 2009) was transposed into Belgian law by the Acts of 8 January 2012, 26 December 2013 and 8 May 2014, amending the Act of 29 April 1999 on the organisation of the electricity market (and the Act of 12 April 1965 on the transport of gaseous and other products by pipeline).

The opening up of the European electricity markets has led to the introduction of a power exchange in Belgium: BELPEX, established in 2006. BELPEX facilitates anonymous, cleared trading in two different market segments, namely a day-ahead market segment (DAM) and a continuous intraday market segment (CIM). BELPEX is fully owned by APX Holding, which, as of May 2015, is fully owned by EPEX SPOT. BELPEX’ day-ahead market segment is coupled with APX in the Netherlands and UK, EPEX Spot in France and Germany and Nord Pool Spot in the Nordic region. The intraday market segment is coupled with APX in the Netherlands and Nord Pool Spot in the Nordic region.

The regulatory framework for the electricity market is elaborate. Belgium has four energy regulators. The federal regulator for the electricity and gas markets is the Commission for the Regulation of Electricity and Gas (CREG). This Commission has the responsibility to advise public authorities regarding the functioning of the electricity market and to monitor the application of related laws and regulations. It regulates and licenses electricity transmission above 70 kV, approves transmission tariffs and monitors the wholesale market at the national level. The operating costs of the CREG are covered by licensing fees and levies on electricity and natural gas.

In January 2014, CREG saw its independence increase by the provisions of the Act of January 2012 and the decision of the Constitutional Court of 7th August 2013, which confirmed that the regulator had exclusive jurisdiction with respect to application, determination and exemption of tariffs.

As part of the 6th State Reform (special Act of 6 January 2014), powers to set distribution tariffs were transferred from the federal level (CREG) to the regional regulators. The reform took effect in July 2014.

Each region has its own regulatory institution for the electricity and gas markets: the Flemish Regulation Entity for Electricity and Gas markets (VREG), the Walloon Commission for Energy (CWaPE) and the Commission for Energy Regulation in the Brussels-Capital Region (Brugel). The three regional regulators are responsible for the licensing and the regulation of distribution of natural gas and electricity, the transmission of electricity below 70 kV, technical regulations for the management and extension of natural gas networks, monitoring monitor retail market competition in the regional electricity and gas markets and the green certificate schemes, arbitrating grid access disputes and advising the respective regional governments.

The four Belgian regulators for electricity and gas have launched a structural consultative process in the framework of the Forum of Belgian Energy Regulators (FORBEG). It is an informal platform for discussion and voluntary collaboration and information exchange between the regulators with a plenary session and several working groups focusing on the following issues: technical questions, information, complaints, green power, tariffs and strategy.

The management of the Belgian electricity transmission system on the other hand is observed by a single transmission system operator (TSO): ELIA System Operator.

According to Article 8 of the Act of 29 April 1999 on the organisation of the electricity market, ELIA has sole responsibility for operating, maintaining and developing the high-voltage transmission system, including interconnections to other grids, in order to ensure continuity of supply according to the model of “full ownership unbundling”. By decision of the federal regulator on 6 December 2012, this licence is valid for 20 years and can be renewed. Since ELIA enjoys a legal monopoly, it is subject to a special legal framework and to the authority of regulators responsible for checking and approving the way in which it operates (for instance, with respect to tariffs).

ELIA System Operator has been listed on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels, since June 2005. Its core shareholder is the municipal holding company Publi-T, founded in 2001. Publipart, which also represents the interests of the Belgian municipalities, holds a 2,53% stake in the company. 52,26% of ELIA shares are traded freely on the stock exchange.

ELIA employs more than 1.100 professionals and owns and operates over 8.000 km of high voltage lines and underground cables throughout Belgium. ELIA also supplies power directly to major companies connected to the grid.

As part of its duties, ELIA drew up a plan for the development of the federal transmission grid in 2015. It did so in partnership with the Belgian Directorate-General for Energy and the Federal Planning Bureau.

The development plan covers a ten-year period (2015-2025); is compatible with ENTSO-E’s Ten-Year Network Development Plan (2014-2024) and takes account of the latest prospective study carried out by the Directorate-General for Energy in cooperation with the Federal Planning Bureau (in French).

The Development Plan 2015-2025 is the product of a consultative process involving the federal regulator (CREG), the Minister responsible for the Marine Environment, the regional governments and the Federal Council for Sustainable Development.

The final version of the Development Plan 2015-2025 has been approved by the Minister for Energy Marie Christine Marghem on 17 November 2015.

It involves an increase from 3,5 to 6,5 GWe import capacity from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. It also plans to integrate more renewable energy, including 2,3 GWe of offshore wind.

Belgium has long been a proponent of regional collaboration in the field of electricity generation. The PENTALATERAL Energy Forum is the leading forum for discussion and cooperation between the Benelux, France and Germany. Its main objectives are market integration and security of supply. It aims at the creation of a regional Northwest-European electricity market as an intermediate step towards a common European electricity market.

Belgium is also reinforcing the interconnection capacity with its neighbours:

• The project ALEGrO involves the realization of a HVDC link with a bidirectional rated power of approximately 1.000 MW capacity, as the first interconnection between Belgium (Lixhe) and Germany (Oberzier). Commissioning is expected in 2020;

• NEMO will be the first interconnector between Great Britain and Belgium, a 1 GW HVDC link. Technical commissioning is planned by 2018 and commercial operation in 2019. NEMO will enhance market integration, facilitate the penetration of renewable energy sources in the energy mix and contribute to security of supply since providing import capacity in a context of decommissioning of power plants;

• The BRABO project is part of work to upgrade the Belgian electricity grid and is necessary to increase import capacity from the Netherlands. Commissioning is expected in 2020. A bilateral study is investigating the options for developing additional cross-border capacity (1000 MW) between Belgium and the Netherlands.

In 2014, the transmission system operators of the Pentalateral Energy Forum, at the request of Belgium, conducted a comprehensive investigation into capacity planning and additional “regional” investments. On 8 June 2015, the initiative got a new impetus with the signing of a “Political Agreement”, adopting a new work programme.

Moreover, the development of offshore capacities, particularly in the North Sea, is just as vital to the success of Europe's energy policy. The Belgian Government has played a major role in launching and coordinating “The North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative” (NSCOGI). It was established by a Memorandum of Understanding on 3 December 2010 in order to form a regional platform for facilitating coordinated development of a possible offshore grid. The initiative was set up by the 10 North Seas Countries governments and supported by ACER, ENTSO-E, the national regulatory authorities as well as the European Commission.. Offshore wind in the North Sea region has the potential to generate over 8 % of Europe’s power supply by 2030. The NSCOGI five year celebration conference in Ostend on 23 October 2015 was an occasion for Member States to renew their commitment, while Minister for Energy Marie Christine Marghem expressed her intention to propose a new action plan for the coming five years.

The support scheme for the offshore wind parks has meanwhile been adapted to make it more flexible, by taking the real revenues and costs into account, and minimising the cost for consumers.

Regional support schemes in favour of renewable energy have also recently been adapted to take into account the increasing share of renewables in the energy mix and their decreasing costs.

Still, nuclear energy remains the main energy source for electricity generation in Belgium. There are seven reactor units in commercial operation in Belgium, four in Doel and three in Tihange. Together, they can generate about 55 per cent of the country’s electricity needs.

In spite of this dependency, on 31 January 2003, the federal parliament passed an Act prohibiting the construction of new nuclear units intended for the industrial production of electricity by nuclear fission in Belgium and limiting the operation of existing reactors to 40 years. According to this Act nuclear fission energy had to be phased-out between 2015 and 2025.

However, successive governments have amended the law in order to ensure the security of supply of electricity, whilst always confirming the decision to phase out all nuclear power reactors by 2025.

Two prospective studies were performed to forecast the future energy needs of Belgium based on different economic scenarios, in which the question of the long term operation (LTO) of nuclear power plants has also been addressed. The "Study on the Outlook for Electricity Supplies 2008-2017" was published in 2009 and the "Study on the Outlook for Electricity Supplies by 2030" was published in 2015 (both in French and Dutch only). These studies were subjected to a strategic environmental assessment and have been subject to public consultation.

On 4 July 2012 the federal government decided to postpone by 10 years the shutdown of Tihange 1, mainly out of security of electricity supply concerns.

On 18 December 2014, the new federal government again confirmed the decision to phase out all nuclear power reactors by 2025, but, as a result of generation adequacy concerns and the lack of investments in new generation capacity, the calendar for the nuclear phase-out was once more adjusted. It decided it would allow the Doel 1 and 2 reactors to continue operating for ten more years, until 2025 (conditional on the approval by the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control FANC/AFCN and an agreement with their operator and owner, ELECTRABEL). Following the approval by the FANC/AFCN, this decision was confirmed by Parliament on 19 June 2015.

The decommissioned nuclear plants should in future mostly be replaced by new CCGT-power plants. To attract the necessary investments, analysis is currently ongoing to identify measures to improve the functioning of the energy market and to assess generation adequacy and the necessity of the introduction of capacity mechanisms.

The current federal government also decided to create an energy transition fund, with adequate resources, in order to encourage R&D in innovative projects in the field of energy and in particular to develop energy production and energy storage.

By amendment of the Act of 29 April 1999 on the organisation of the electricity market, it introduced on 26 March 2014 a Strategic Reserve mechanism to cover any structural shortage in generation during the winter months, but also in preparation for the envisaged phase-out of nuclear energy by 2025.

The Strategic Reserve is organised, managed and if necessary activated by ELIA and differs from the balancing resources which ELIA uses all year round to offset the sum of ARPs' (Access Responsible Parties) residual imbalances in real time.

ENGIE, formerly GDF SUEZ, has the dominant position on the Belgian market through its 100% subsidiary ELECTRABEL, the former incumbent electricity supplier. Out of a total of some 110 generation plants connected to the ELIA grid (voltage of 30 kV or more) at the end of 2015, ELECTRABEL owns 64, thus controlling over 75% (11.339 MW) of electricity generating capacity (15.072,20 MW), coming down from 89% in 2002.

The Tihange and Doel nuclear power plants are operated by ELECTRABEL, though EDF BELGIUM owns 50% of Tihange Unit 1 (450 MW) and EDF LUMINUS has a stake of 10,2% in four nuclear units (Tihange 2 and 3 and Doel 3 and 4).

EDF BELGIUM owns a 63.5% stake in EDF LUMINUS, the other 36,5% being held by the historical Flemish and Walloon inter-municipal shareholders of SPE (PUBLILEC, PUBLILUM, SOCOFE, VEH, ETHIAS and TECTEO). SPE, “Société coopérative de Production d'Electricité”, was established as a municipalities’ joint utility in 1978. CENTRICA acquired a majority stake in July 2008 which it sold to EDF in 2009. SPE LUMINUS took over the sales activities of EDF BELGIUM in September 2010 and was renamed EDF LUMINUS in November 2011. With an installed capacity of 1.955 MW (17 plants) at the end of 2015, EDF LUMINUS, first challenger, represents about 10% of the Belgian electricity generating capacity. In addition to its holdings in nuclear installations, EDF LUMINUS is a well-established green energy producer which has gas-fired power plants, wind farms and hydraulic power stations at various sites in Flanders and Wallonia.

The legal separation between companies involved in production, transmission and distribution of electricity was completed in 2007 and both the Transmission System Operator (TSO) ELIA and the regional Distribution System Operators (DSOs) are fully legally unbundled from supply/production companies. Each DSO has a monopoly over the territory in which it operates.

The Distribution System Operators (DSOs) in Belgium are:

• ORES, RESA (group TECTEO), Régie de Wavre, AIESH and AIEG in Wallonia;

• SIBELGA in the Brussels-Capital Region;

• EANDIS and INFRAX in Flanders.

DSOs have municipal shareholders and have a legal requirement to be 100% local government-owned by 2018. With regard to the Brussels-Capital Region, ELECTRABEL has already withdrawn from the capital of SIBELGA. As a result, the municipalities have had 100% ownership of SIBELGA’s capital since 31 December 2012.

INTER-RÉGIES, created in 1955 in Brussels under the name "INTERPUBLIC", is the umbrella association of the pure public sector-owned electricity, natural gas and cable distribution system operators who have only municipal and provincial shareholders, while INTERMIXT represents the municipal shareholders of the mixed inter-municipal distribution system operators.

FEBEG is the 25-member-association of Belgian electricity and gas companies, i.e. electricity generators, traders and shippers of electricity and gas, electricity and gas suppliers and suppliers of energy services.

FEBELIEC, the “Federation of Belgian Industrial Energy Consumers” represents the industrial energy consumers in Belgium in issues about energy and climate politics on Belgian and European level.

AGORIA is the largest employers’ federation in Belgium which brings together and defends the interests of companies in the technology industry, including nuclear technology.

By the end of 2014, some 20.918 MW of electricity generating capacity was installed in Belgium, including 3.023 MW of photovoltaic, 1.930 MW of wind (1.222 MW onshore and 708 MW offshore) and 5.927 MW nuclear.

Electricity production amounted to 72 TWh in 2014, or 13.2% less than in 2013. Generation peaked at 93.8 TWh in 2010 and has been falling since. From 2010 to 2014, electricity generation fell by 24%, primarily because of long and extensive outages at the country’s nuclear power plants.

Nuclear plants produced 33,70 TWh in 2014, a decrease of 8,9 TWh over 2013. Data for recent years are abnormal due to exceptional events causing the temporary stoppage of several nuclear units. For almost five months in 2014 and most of 2015, around half of the nuclear capacity in Belgium has been off-line (for more information, see below: 2.2.1. Status and performance of nuclear power plants). Despite this uncommon situation, the share of nuclear power generation was 46,4% due to the decrease in overall generation in Belgium. The share of nuclear power in total generation was relatively stable during the 2000s, at around 55%. Since 2011, the share has fallen from 54,2% to 47,2%, as total nuclear power generation declined by 30,3% over the same period because of the above-mentioned long outages of two reactors.

Total gas-fired generation amounted to 19,3 TWh (27% of total generation) in 2014, a decrease of 1,6 TWh compared to 2013. Electricity from natural gas grew for decades to reach a peak of 31,4 TWh in 2010 (33,5% of the total). Since then however, gas use in electricity generation has fallen by 38,8%, as imports from cheaper sources have gained ground.

Coal plants generated 4,4 TWh in 2014; a decrease of 0,8 TWh compared to 2013. Gas and coal-fired generation reached their lowest levels since 2007.

Renewables represent 19% of electricity production in Belgium, made up of biofuels and waste (7,8%), wind (6,4%), solar (4,3%) and hydropower (0,4%). In 2014, all offshore wind farms combined injected 2,2 TWh into the transmission grid, an increase of 43,9% compared to 2013. Adding onshore generation, total wind energy amounted to 4,61 TWh, an increase of 11,7 % compared to 2013.

Renewables share in generation has increased from 2,9% in 2004. On average, biofuels and waste grew at 11,1% per annum over the ten years. Driven by subsidies and starting from a low absolute level, solar grew at 123,3% per year and wind at 41,5%. Hydropower generation varies year-on-year and in 2014 it was 4,4% lower than in 2004.

More recent data on Belgium’s electricity generation are always available on the website of ELIA, though only the production of plants connected to the ELIA grid (voltage of 30 kV or more) is taken into account.

TABLE 5. ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION AND CAPACITY

(1) Net Maximum Electrical Capacity

(2) Gross Production

(3) Electricity transmission losses are not deducted.

(4) Final consumption (observed)

* Latest available official data

Source: FPS Economy – Energy Observatory

Yearly electricity demand has shown a steady increase from 1990 until 2006 where it stabilized around 83 to 85 TWh. The demand for electrical power, that is, net consumption plus pumping power and grid losses, amounted to 92,0 TWh in 2010, 89,2 TWh in 2011, 89,7 TWh in 2012,89,8 TWh in 2013 and 87,6 TWh in 2014. Total electricity off-take dropped to 80,6 TWh in 2013, a decrease of 1,4% compared to 2012. The maximum offtake in 2014 was 12.692 MW, the lowest for the past decade.

According to the Belgian federation of energy grid operators SYNERGRID, electricity consumption in Belgium increased by 1% in 2015, to total up to 79,9 TWh. (Unfortunately, this information is only available online in Dutch and French.) Electricity consumption by large industrial consumers connected to the ELIA transmission network increased with 2% to 27,3 TWh. Electricity consumption by the tertiary and residential sectors and SMEs reached 52,6 TWh in 2015, a rise of 1% compared to 2014, but 3% less than in 2013.

Production in Belgium, connected to the ELIA grid, dropped by 10% in 2015 to 47,7 TWh.

Belgium has in general been a net power importer since the beginning of the 1990s. In 2015, net imports totalled 21 TWh), 19% higher than in 2014 (17,6 TWh) and covered 26% of total electricity consumption in Belgium. Electricity imports reached a record in 2015 at 23,8 TWh (+9% compared to 2014), due to a low availability of nuclear power plants, while exports fell by 35% to 2,7 TWh.

TABLE 6. ENERGY RELATED RATIOS

(1) Net import / Total energy consumption.

* Latest available official data

Source: FPS Economy – Energy Observatory

Nuclear power development in Belgium began after World War II, when Belgium started uranium production in its mines in the Belgian Congo and signed a nuclear technical co-operation agreement with the USA. Belgium was a groundbreaker in adopting nuclear technology for peaceful purposes in the early 1960s. For many years the Belgian nuclear industry covered almost all activities in the nuclear fuel cycle.

The world famous Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN was created in 1952. Its BR3 – Belgian Reactor 3 – in Mol was the first PWR in Western Europe. BR3 became critical for the first time on 19 August 1962. On 25 October of the same year, BR3 was connected to the electricity grid. (On 30 June 1987, BR3 was also the first pressurised water reactor in Europe to be shut down.)

In the neighbouring town of Dessel, the EUROCHEMIC spent-fuel reprocessing pilot plant was in operation from 1966 to 1974.

After the commissioning of the pilot PWR reactor BR3 at SCK•CEN in 1962 and an early 305 MW PWR designed by Westinghouse in cooperation with France (Chooz A) in 1966, commercial utilisation of nuclear power development took off in Belgium with the decision to build the Doel (in Flanders) and Tihange (in Wallonia) NPPs.

Doel 1 and 2 were ordered in 1968, and Tihange 1 was ordered in 1969. Commercial development was accelerated by the 1970s oil crisis witch lead to the construction of four more nuclear reactors in 1974. By 1985, 7 nuclear power units – all pressurised water reactors – had been connected to the electricity grid, with a total net generating capacity of (then) 5.824,5 MW.

Main milestones

Policy related to the nuclear sector, the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear R&D in both nuclear fusion and fission is the responsibility of the Federal Public Service (FPS) Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy.

Licensing, control and surveillance are the responsibility of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control FANC/AFCN and is supervised by the federal Minister of the Interior.

The fuel cycle for Belgian nuclear plants is managed by SYNATOM. In addition, SYNATOM is entrusted by law with the management of the provisions for dismantling the Belgian nuclear power plants and is therefore mentioned twice in the chart below.

FIGURE1: Organizational chart

FANC/AFCN

The Federal Agency for Nuclear Control FANC/AFCN (“Federaal Agentschap voor Nucleaire Controle” in Dutch or “Agence Fédérale de Contrôle Nucléaire” in French) is the Belgian Nuclear Safety Authority. It was established by the Act of 15 April 1994 on the protection of the public and the environment against the dangers of ionising radiation and on the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control and became fully operational on 1 September 2001. The FANC/AFCN has legal duties in the field of radiation protection, nuclear safety and radiological surveillance, licensing and de-licensing, under supervision of the Minister of the Interior.

For more information on FANC/AFCN , see below: 3.1.1 Regulatory framework.

CREG

The federal Gas and Electricity Regulatory Commission CREG regulates and licenses electricity transmission above 70 kV, approves transmission tariffs and monitors the market.

Its main missions are:

• To ensure that the electricity and gas market is transparent and competitive.

• To ensure that the market situation serves the public interest and fits into the overall energy policy;

• To represent essential consumer interests.

CREG also has an advisory role for the Belgian federal government and is empowered by the Act of 29 April 1999 on the organisation of the electricity market to perform investigations and studies on the electricity market, either on its own initiative or at the request of the Minister for Energy or a regional government.

ONDRAF/NIRAS

ONDRAF/NIRAS (“Organisme National des Déchets Radioactifs et des matičres Fissiles enrichies” in French or “Nationale Instelling voor Radioactief Afval en verrijkte Splijtstoffen” in Dutch) is the National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Fissile Materials entrusted by the Act of 8 August 1980 with the safe transportation, treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal of all radioactive waste produced in the country. The Royal Decree of 30 March 1981 defined its missions and duties, which were extended by way of a law enacted on 11 January 1991, to include certain aspects of the management of enriched fissile materials and the decommissioning of nuclear facilities other than nuclear power plants, the procedures of which were defined in the Royal Decree of 16 October 1991.

The legislator assigned by law certain responsibilities in the field of decommissioning to ONDRAF/NIRAS.

ONDRAF/NIRAS sees to it that the owners/operators create the necessary provisions for the financing of the future dismantling programme.

ONDRAF/NIRAS must work at cost price and charge those using its services – radioactive waste producers – no more or less than the amounts necessary to ensure the safe management of their waste, in accordance with the “polluter pays” principle.

ONDRAF/NIRAS also has the main responsibility for R&D on radioactive waste management and its disposal.

ONDRAF/NIRAS operates under supervision of the federal Minister in charge of Energy and the federal Minister in charge of the Economy.

BELGOPROCESS

Since 1986, ONDRAF/NIRAS has an industrial subsidiary, BELGOPROCESS, which also has commercial activities, representing less than ten percent of its turnover.

BELGOPROCESS (which at the time stood for Belgium reprocessing) was founded in 1984 as a subsidiary of SYNATOM, while the Belgian government intended to restart the EUROCHEMIC reprocessing plant, but in 1986 the decision was made to close the factory and BELGOPROCESS was transferred to ONDRAF/NIRAS. (The demolition of the EUROCHEMIC reprocessing plant was completed in 2014.)

Since 1986, the site of BELGOPROCESS in Dessel (adjacent to Mol) serves as ONDRAF/NIRAS’ central processing and conditioning facility as well as storage facility for conditioned waste of all categories.

BELGOPROCESS is active in three areas:

• Industrial activities in the field of radioactive waste management (Processing, conditioning, and intermediate storage awaiting the final disposal of radioactive waste);

• Dismantling of decommissioned nuclear plants, remediation of contaminated buildings and sites, decontamination of materials and structures;

• The retention and development of new knowledge and know-how, the execution of projects, and the commercial use of the know-how within these areas.

SCK•CEN

As a foundation of public utility, the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN conducts research into the safety of nuclear installations, the management of radioactive waste and human and environmental protection against ionising radiation, safeguards of strategic materials and social implications of nuclear energy.

According to its statutes and besides the research activities, it also guarantees the maintenance of a centre of competence in the domains of nuclear energy and ionising radiation, and has a role in communication, education and training. In 2012 it created its Academy for Nuclear Sciences and Technology. It also offers services in the scope of its competences.

SCK•CEN's material testing reactor BR2 (Belgian Reactor 2), which has been in use since 1963, is amongst the most powerful and flexible research reactors in the world and plays a prominent role in the production of medical radioisotopes (BR2 is responsible for 20 to 25% of the world’s total production of the most important radioisotopes.) and the doping of silicon used in renewable energy systems. SCK•CEN decided to invest in the extension of the irradiation capabilities of BR2, including the development of irradiation facilities allowing for the irradiation of GenIV/MYRRHA candidate materials in representative conditions. The preliminary works for the refurbishment of BR2 started at the end of 2014. To guarantee safe and efficient operation, BR2 is undergoing a thorough maintenance and modernisation operation until mid-2016, with various systems and components being replaced out of precaution.

Since 1998, SCK•CEN has been developing the nuclear research infrastructure MYRRHA, the Multipurpose Hybrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications. MYRRHA is based on the concept of an Accelerator Driven System (ADS) for the necessary research into innovative solutions for high-level radioactive waste, the qualification of fusion reactor materials and for fundamental nuclear physics research. These tasks are carried out in an international context in collaboration with universities, research organizations and sister organizations of SCK•CEN. MYRRHA has been identified within the European ESFRI roadmap and within the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII) of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP) in support of the SET-Plan.

IRE

The National Institute for Radioelements IRE is a public utility foundation whose main activity is the production of radioelements used in nuclear medicine for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Its R&D department contributes to research in the field of radioelement production, environmental protection and radioactive waste management.

Through its subsidiary, IRE ELiT, the Institute develops its service activities relating to the environmental protection and its new radiopharmaceutical production activities.

SYNATOM

The fuel cycle for Belgian nuclear plants is managed by SYNATOM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ELECTRABEL. The Belgian government holds a “golden share” and appoints two representatives in the Board of Directors.

SYNATOM is responsible for the fuel cycle front-end management, i.e., the supply with enriched uranium of the seven nuclear power units; as well as the fuel cycle back-end management, i.e., the management of all activities in connection with spent nuclear fuel.

SYNATOM is the “exclusive owner” (as defined by EURATOM Treaty Article 87) of the nuclear fuel from its fabrication to its transfer to ONDRAF/NIRAS when declared as radioactive waste. Hence it is the most important owner and producer of irradiated fissile materials.

In addition, SYNATOM is entrusted by the Act of 11 April 2003 on the provisions made for the decommissioning of nuclear plants and the management of irradiated nuclear fuel in these plants, amended by the Act of 25 April 2007, with the management of the provisions for dismantling the Belgian nuclear power plants and for the costs related to their spent fuel.

The main characteristics of the applied methodology for dismantling provisions are the following:

• The provision must be accrued over the long term operation (LTO) of the nuclear power plants (as defined by the Act of 31 January 2003, i.e. 40 calendar years), the current scenario is a dismantling approach based on the dismantling of each unit separately, but in series, and the decommissioning of the common facilities well after the decommissioning of the last unit on each site.

• The initial provision is equal to the net present value of all future decommissioning expenses (based on a study performed by an independent engineering company and the engineering office TRACTEBEL).

ELIA

ELIA System Operator is Belgium’s only transmission system operator (TSO) for electricity.

For more information on ELIA, see above, sub 1.3.1. Electricity policy and decision making process.

BELGONUCLEAIRE

BELGONUCLEAIRE SA was founded in 1957 and provided nuclear engineering services in the areas of studies concerning the behaviour of nuclear fuels, the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, and manufacturing equipment for MOX plants. It operated a MOX-fuel manufacturing facility in Dessel from 1986 to 2006. Dismantling works started in 2010 and are scheduled to finish in 2016.

FIGURE 2: Location of nuclear power plants in Belgium.(Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

The Belgian nuclear power plants are located in Doel (in Flanders) and Tihange (in Wallonia). All are operated by ELECTRABEL, though EDF Belgium owns 50% of Tihange 1 and EDF LUMINUS – a 63,5% subsidiary of EDF Belgium – has a stake of 10,2% in four nuclear units (Tihange 2 and 3 and Doel 3 and 4). ELECTRABEL is a 100% subsidiary of GDF SUEZ S.A. The BR3 (Belgian Reactor 3), a prototype pressurised water reactor, was shut down on 30 June 1987.

On 31 January 2003, the federal parliament passed a law codifying the national policy of Belgium to phase out nuclear energy for commercial electricity production. This Act prohibits the construction of new nuclear power plants (NPP) intended for the industrial production of electricity by nuclear fission in Belgium and sets a 40 year limit on the operational period of existing plants. This legislation does not apply to nuclear research reactors.

On 4 July 2012, the Belgian government, whilst authorising the LTO of Tihange 1 till 2025 (conditional on the approval by the FANC/AFCN), confirmed this decision and by the Act of 18 December 2013 it established a timetable for the nuclear power phase-out between 2015 and 2025. At the same time it eliminated the possibility to invoke force majeure to change the timetable for the nuclear power phase-out by Royal Decree if Belgium's security of supply is threatened.

On 18 December 2014, the current federal government also confirmed the decision to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2025. However, in order to ensure security of supply of electricity, it would allow the Doel 1 and 2 reactors to continue operating for a further ten years – conditional on the approval of the regulator FANC/AFCN and an agreement with the operator and owner of the reactors, ELECTRABEL – until 15 February 2025 and 1 December 2025 respectively. This decision was confirmed by the Act of 18 June 2015, amending the Act of 31 January 2003 on the gradual phasing out of nuclear energy.

Taking into account these amendments, the timetable for the nuclear phase-out looks is as follows:

Historically, nuclear power plants have been operated very effectively in Belgium, with availability and load factors between 85% and 90%. However, several independent events have resulted in prolonged unplanned shut-downs of nuclear reactors and in an overall reduction of their availability and load factors in recent years. In summer 2012, the units Doel 3 (on 2 June) and Tihange 2 (on 16 August) were taken offline by the operator because of fault indications discovered in the pressure vessels by specific in-service inspections not required by procedures. Further analysis showed that the fault indications consisted of hydrogen flakes which were originated during steel manufacturing. The two units were restarted in June 2013, but were shut down again in March 2014 after the operator had performed additional tests requesting further investigations. Finally, after an international peer review by experts, in November 2015 the Belgian nuclear regulator FANC/AFCN authorised their restart based on safety case reports that provided an adequate demonstration of the structural integrity of Doel 3 and Tihange 2 up to forty years of operation (Final Evaluation Report 2015: Flaw indications in the reactor pressure vessels of Doel 3 and Tihange 2). The two units resumed operation in December 2015.

Furthermore, Doel 4 automatically shut down on 5 August 2014 following an oil leak in its steam turbine, hence in the non-nuclear part of the facility. Work to replace the reactor’s turbine took almost 5 months. Doel 4 restarted on 19 December 2014.

Finally, Doel 1, the oldest nuclear power plant unit, was shut down in February 2015, in accordance with the phase-out legislation of 2003, limiting the operation of all Belgian nuclear power units to 40 years. This legislation was supposed to apply in December 2015 to Doel 2 as well, but the Belgian parliament decided in June 2015 to extend the operation of both Doel 1 and 2 by 10 years , mainly out of security of electricity supply concerns.

At the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, Doel 1 and 2 resumed operation after two months of scheduled maintenance. All in all, for almost five months in 2014 and most of 2015, around half of the nuclear capacity in Belgium had been off-line.

TABLE 7. STATUS AND PERFORMANCE OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

+ Date when first major placing of concrete, usually for the base mat of the reactor building, is done.

++ Date of the first connection to the grid.

* UCF (Unit Capability Factor) for the latest available year (only applicable to reactors in operation).

** ELECTRABEL

Source: PRIS database (www.iaea.org/pris/).

After the 11 March 2011 Fukushima accident, the European Council decided on 24-25 March 2011 that the safety of all EU nuclear plants should be reviewed on the basis of a comprehensive and transparent risk and safety assessment. Following the specification proposal such “stress tests” by the Western European Nuclear Regulator's Association (WENRA) on 21 April 2011 and by the European Nuclear Safety Regulators' Group (ENSREG) on 13 May 2011, the FANC/AFCN proposed on 17 May 2011 the specifications for “Belgian Stress tests” applicable to power reactors.

These specifications were adopted by Belgian Parliament on 16 June 2011.

In the light of the report submitted by ELECTRABEL on 31 October 2011, the FANC/AFCN concluded that the Doel and Tihange nuclear power plants had an adequate level of protection under extreme conditions.

A similar stress test evaluation was performed at SCK•CEN, BELGOPROCESS and IRE. FANC/AFCN also concluded that these installations have an adequate level of protection under extreme conditions. A follow-up plan with specific measures was implemented for all installations.

The initial licences of the seven nuclear power plants were granted for an unlimited time.

The safety of the installations is continuously reviewed through different processes, the most important and systematic being the series of periodic safety reviews (PSR).

In addition, many other projects with important modifications have been executed, amongst others steam generator replacements at all units, in some cases accompanied by power increase. Such major modifications to the nuclear power plants are subject to license amendments following a procedure similar to the initial one.

Most of the nuclear research in Belgium is carried out at the National Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN, which also provides training and other services to the nuclear industry, the medical sector and the authorities, and promotes public awareness of nuclear technology. The nuclear research by SCK•CEN is mainly aimed at reactor safety experiments, innovative fuel cycles and partitioning and transmutation, advanced nuclear systems, radioactive waste disposal, decommissioning, radiation protection, and health physics and medical and space applications. Research on the safety of nuclear power plants is performed in collaboration with FANC/AFCN and industrial partners such as ELECTRABEL and TRACTEBEL.

Research and development for the support of both nuclear and non-nuclear power plant operations is carried out by ENGIE LAB (previously LABORELEC), a technical competence centre in electrical power and energy technology.

The research areas for SCK•CEN are authorised by Royal Decree. The first priority is to maintain the safety of the nuclear power plants. This involves research of the ageing of their main components and the safety aspects of fuel development. The research is carried out in cooperation with TRACTEBEL and the international research community. The second priority is to find an appropriate solution for the long-term management of the long-lived medium- and high-level radioactive wastes.

SCK•CEN's high performance material testing reactor BR2, which ranks among the world top class of high neutron-flux reactors, plays a crucial role in support of the long term operation (LTO) of the Belgian nuclear power plants. Besides its basic missions – i.e. the development, qualification and surveillance of materials and components for use in nuclear installations – BR2 produces 25% of world-wide demand of the dominant medical isotope ^99mTc, applied commonly in oncology and cardiology. A wide range of other radioisotopes applied in various medical diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are being produced at BR2. Furthermore it produces the α- and β-radioisotopes that have recently broken through for radiotherapeutic applications. The second main industrial application of BR2 concerns the highly homogeneous doping of silicon (covering also about 25% of the global demand) at use in renewable energy systems like hybrid/electric cars and electrical energy conversion and transmission systems as essential in windmills and solar power.

To prepare the next 10 year licence period of BR2 (2016-2026), in conformity with the strategic note of the FANC/AFCN regarding the LTO of research reactors, an analysis on the design upgrades and advanced structural/functional maintenance and ageing management measures – in order to comply with modern safety standards – has been made up and approved by the safety authorities. In parallel with the implementation of the identified periodic safety review measures, the measures resulting from the stress test conducted in 2011-2012, to improve the robustness against external hazards of the SCK•CEN installations in general and the BR2-reactor in particular, will be implemented as well by 2016. Two essential points regarding the safe BR2 exploitation are the reactor vessel and the beryllium (structural support) matrix of the reactor core. The condition of the reactor vessel is predicted on the basis of a surveillance program that entails an accelerated irradiation of representative material that is tested on its embrittlement resulting from the neutron-damage. The results of these tests assure the resistance of the vessel material against brittle fracture up to doses experienced by the actual vessel well beyond 2026. The present Beryllium matrix, being in service since 1998, has reached half of the maximal allowed irradiation dose in 2011. The maximum lifetime of the matrix would be reached in the second half of the 2016-2026 period. Hence, it has been decided to replace the Beryllium matrix as part of the preliminary works for the refurbishment which started at the end of 2014. SCK•CEN decided to invest in the extension of the irradiation capabilities of BR2, inclusive the development of irradiation facilities allowing to irradiate GenIV/MYRRHA candidate materials in representative conditions. The refurbishment took place in 2015 and early 2016. The BR2 will restart operation during the last trimester of 2016.

SCK•CEN has a statutory mission to conduct research on the protection of man and environment against the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. In the field of life sciences, SCK•CEN has dedicated laboratories for specific research in radiobiology, microbiology and radioecology. The laboratory for radiobiology studies the effects of low dose ionizing radiation on the developing mammalian organism, the induction of cancer and non-cancer diseases and the individual radiosensitivity. A new animal facility using state-of-the-art technology is operational since February 2014 to clarify the significance of short term biological responses to ionizing radiation for the human health in the long term. The laboratory for microbiology investigates bacterial adaptation under extreme conditions, such as cosmic radiation, microgravity, heavily polluted soils and the geological disposal of radioactive waste. Radioecological research is performed in the unit biosphere impact studies. Its main focus is on understanding the behaviour of radionuclides in the biosphere for the protection of man and environment in normal and accidental situations.

SCK-CEN is a major player in European Radiation Protection and Safeguards research and is founding member and member of the management board/president such as MELODI, ALLIANCE, NERIS, EURADOS, and ESARDA.

The societal aspects of nuclear technology are also investigated with emphasis on public participation in the decision process. Research is performed in the context of decision support to add to the transparency of decisions. Three major areas are investigated: nuclear waste management, nuclear risks management and energy management.

ONDRAF/NIRAS, being responsible for the management of radioactive waste, has been coordinating the geological disposal RD&D programme for the past thirty years. In practice, ONDRAF/NIRAS determines the R&D objectives and entrusts the implementation to national and international scientific partners (universities, research institutes, SCK•CEN in particular), engineering and industrial partners. The large-scale demonstration projects and experiments in the underground laboratory built in Boom Clay were entrusted to EIG EURIDICE, the Economic Interest Group which was cofounded in 1995 by ONDRAF/NIRAS and SCK•CEN.

ONDRAF/NIRAS signed a trilateral agreement with ANDRA (France) and NAGRA (Switzerland), two agencies who are also studying argillaceous formations as host formations for the geological disposal of radioactive waste. In 2010, ONDRAF/NIRAS entered into a research and development agreement with COVRA, her Dutch counterpart, on the possibilities of storing radioactive waste in poorly indurated clay in their respective national territory.

From 23 to 26 March 2015, ONDRAF/NIRAS organised, in cooperation with ANDRA (France), COVRA (Netherlands), NAGRA (Switzerland), NWMO (Canada), POSIVA (Finland) and SKB (Sweden), the sixth international conference on "Clays in Natural and Engineered Barriers for Radioactive Waste Confinement".

The conference gathered about 500 specialists in the different disciplines related to geological disposal of radioactive waste and gave participants the opportunity to evaluate the progress of the research conducted in that field, debate about it and intensify the knowledge for the implementation of a safe geological repository.

This conference was unique in the sense that it brought together all scientific and engineering fields of study related to the use of clay in geological disposal systems.

SCK•CEN is developing the multipurpose nuclear research facility MYRRHA (Multipurpose Hybrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications), identified within the European ESFRI roadmap and within the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII) of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNETP) in support of the SET-Plan. MYRRHA will be a sub-critical assembly driven by a high power proton accelerator that generates the primary neutrons by means of spallation reactions in the centre of the core to trigger fission reactions in the sub-critical core. As well as being able to produce radioisotopes and doped silicon, MYRRHA's research functions would be particularly well suited to investigate transmutation and to demonstrate the efficient operation of the concept of an Accelerator Driven System (ADS) at a pre-industrial scale. Early in 2010, the Belgian government approved its share of funding of the facility at SCK•CEN. Belgium is to contribute 40% towards the EUR 960 million (of 2009) (USD 1.300 million) investment the project will require. Belgium and SCK•CEN are looking to set up an international consortium to ensure additional financing of the project. In 2009, MYRRHA itself was scheduled for operation in 2023, but a reduced power model, GUINEVERE, became operational in February 2011.

In 2010, the Belgian government has granted SCK•CEN a budget of EUR 60 million for a five year period (2010-2014) for advancing the design of MYRRHA, securing its licensing and investment and operational costs. At present, the Belgian federal government and SCK•CEN are working towards setting up an international consortium to ensure additional financing of the project. In 2015, the government extended its support for MYRRHA to until 2017.

Belgium is active in a number of international nuclear organizations including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well as other bilateral and multilateral organizations such as the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO).

SCK•CEN is coordinator of the Belgian Support Programme to the IAEA for safeguards. It also executes most tasks of the Support Programme. Among these tasks, the most important contributions relate to development of safeguards approaches for geological repositories and the Accelerator Driven System MYRRHA, currently in design at SCK•CEN. Moreover, SCK•CEN makes available its facilities and subject matter experts for calibration of IAEA equipment and courses to IAEA safeguards inspectors, helping the IAEA to better perform the safeguards inspections in the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and Additional Protocol.

SCK•CEN is a major player in European projects and has research collaborations on the peaceful use of nuclear applications with most "nuclear" countries/institutes throughout the world.

As member state of the EU’s Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy, Belgium contributes to the development of fusion energy which aims to start producing CO2-free electricity in 2050.

Belgium pioneered with the creation of the Belgian Nuclear higher Education Network (BNEN) in 2002.

BNEN is a master-after-master academic programme in nuclear engineering, organised through a consortium of six Belgian universities and SCK•CEN.

The BNEN consortium was one of the very first in Europe to offer a nuclear engineering programme where nationwide expertise is gathered and combined with the infrastructure and access to operating reactors. It served as a role model for the foundation of the European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN Association). BNEN catalyses networking between academia, research centres, industry and other nuclear stakeholders, and aims at developing and maintaining high-level nuclear engineering competences. The condensed programme (60 ECTS in one year, including a master thesis) allows students to acquire all necessary scientific and technical background and skills to develop a career in the field of nuclear applications. A modular approach facilitates participation of foreign students. The lectures are taught in English, at the premises of SCK•CEN. The laboratory exercises make use of the nuclear facilities of SCK•CEN and are organised by SCK•CEN scientists. Various technical visits are organised to research and industrial nuclear facilities. Teaching blocks of one to three weeks for each module allow optimal time management for students and university lecturers, facilitate registration for individual modules, and allow easy access for international students through ERASMUS and ERASMUS-Mundus programmes.

The SCK•CEN Academy for Nuclear Science and Technology was founded in 2012.

Thanks to its thorough experience in the field of nuclear science and technology, its innovative research and the availability of large and unique nuclear facilities, SCK•CEN is an important partner for nuclear education and training (E&T) in Belgium as well as at international level. It is the specific task of the SCK•CEN Academy to foster the transfer of nuclear knowledge, skills and attitudes towards students and professionals who are active in the nuclear field.

In the interest of maintaining a competent workforce in industry, healthcare, research, and policy, and of transferring nuclear knowledge to the next generations, the SCK•CEN Academy takes it as its mission to:

• Provide guidance for young researchers: SCK•CEN experts are available to guide Bachelor and Master students, PhD candidates or any professional who wants to enrich his or her nuclear competences via an internship. Post-doc positions are also available. Research topics for these purposes can be found on the SCK•CEN Academy website; candidates from all over the world can postulate. The topics are all situated in the priority research domains of SCK•CEN. High school pupils and their teachers are welcome to visit the laboratories; several projects are available for this specific target public.

• Organise academic courses, training for professionals and scientific events: SCK•CEN Academy collaborates with several Belgian and foreign universities and contributes to academic learning. Examples are the BNEN master-after-master specialization in nuclear engineering and the Radiation Protection Expert course.

The post-graduate course for Radiation Protection Experts (20 ECTS) meets the requirements set in the Royal Decree of 20 July 2001 regarding the training for Radiation Protection Experts (Art. 73.2), and is therefore targeted towards those who need to be formally recognised as RPE, as well as to all professionals working in the nuclear, radiology or the medical sector. The course focuses on the scientific and technological basis of radiological and nuclear techniques, with specific attention to radiation protection. This course is organised in Dutch by the SCK•CEN Academy and the University of Hasselt. An equivalent French course is run by ISIB and IRE.

In addition to academic learning, the SCK•CEN Academy also provides customised training courses aimed at improving the knowledge, skills and attitudes of nuclear workers from industry, the medical sector, research organisations and governmental institutions dealing with applications of radioactivity. These courses are modular, and tailored to the needs of the trainees in terms of content, duration, level, language (Dutch, French or English), venue, etc.

The topics treated are all those topics that are subject to SCK•CEN's R&D programme, for example radiation protection, reactor technology, nuclear materials issues, nuclear safety and safety culture, emergency management, decommissioning and decontamination, waste and disposal, radiation biology, radiation ecology, microbiology, ethical aspects, nuclear technology assessment, etc. Some courses are specifically designed to fit into the CPD programmes endorsed by the FANC/AFCN.

Within the course programmes, lectures and practical sessions can be complemented with visits to several nuclear laboratories and research reactors. These technical visits enable trainees to enrich and illustrate their acquired knowledge with the practice of real-life situations. SCK•CEN facilities that can be visited include: three operating research reactors (BR1, BR2 and VENUS), one research reactor in dismantling phase (BR3), hot cells, the HADES underground laboratory for waste disposal research, the decontamination wing of the medical services, the laboratories for antropogammametry (a means of assessing radioactive internal contamination) and low-level alpha, beta and gamma measurements, the laboratories of the radiation biology, radiation ecology and microbiology groups, the dosimetry and nuclear calibrations laboratory, and more.

Furthermore, scientific events such as workshops and topic-specific days are organised in order to deepen the knowledge in very specific nuclear themes and make a contribution to innovate new research via interactive Q&A sessions and discussions. International experts are invited to contribute to the scientific programme.

The Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC/AFCN)

The regulatory authority in the field of radiation protection, nuclear safety and radiological surveillance is the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control, a public body with legal personality which is supervised by the minister for the Interior (“Federaal Agentschap voor Nucleaire Controle” (FANC) in Dutch or “Agence Fédérale de Contrôle Nucléaire” (AFCN) in French). It was established by the Act of 15 April 1994 on the protection of the public and the environment against the dangers of ionising radiation and on the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC/AFCN) to ensure that the public and the environment are effectively protected against the hazards of ionizing radiation, but it only became fully operational on 1 September 2001.

By the Royal decree of 20 July 2001 laying down the General regulations for the protection of the population, workers and the environment against the dangers of ionising radiation (GRR-2001), the regulatory responsibilities for radiological protection were transferred from the specialised offices of the Ministry of Public Health and the Environment and the Ministry of Labour and Employment to this Agency. On 2 April 2003 and 30 March 2011, this legislation was amended to include nuclear security. It must be noted that the general regulations deal with civil facilities and activities only. Military installations and activities are dealt with in the Royal Decree of 11 May 1971 laying down the general military regulations for protection against the hazards of ionizing radiation.

The FANC/AFCN is an independent governmental body. Its legal statute is in itself a guarantee that it can make independent regulatory judgements, within its legal competences. The FANC/AFCN can organize its internal decision-making and can recruit its staff with sufficient autonomy from the political level. The FANC/AFCN has legal personality. This means that it can defend its position before court against other interested parties when needed.

The FANC/AFCN has been given its missions and enforcement powers directly from parliament, guaranteeing its constitutional independence with respect to the Government.

In 2008 Bel V was created as a subsidiary of the FANC/AFCN following a Parliamentary resolution. On 14/04/2008, Bel V took over the regulatory activities, as well as the concerned staff, of the former Authorized Inspection Organisation (AIO) AVN. Since that day, Bel V constitutes the Technical Safety Organisation of the Belgian Nuclear Safety Authority.

A management contract between FANC/AFCN and Bel V, delegates some tasks to Bel V, such as the controls of nuclear facilities and the review and assessment activities for these facilities. Bel V is a founding member of the European Technical Safety Organisations Network (ETSON).

The missions attributed to the FANC/AFCN by the Act of 15 April 1994 and its associated royal decrees are allocated to different departments and sections. The only legal requirement regarding the organisational structure of the FANC/AFCN is the separation between regulation development activities and the surveillance and inspection activities.

The FANC/AFCN is currently composed of five departments, with a total of about 150 people:

• Regulation, International Affairs and Development (RIAD);

• Facilities and Waste;

• Security and Transport;

• Health protection and Environment;

• Support.

The regulatory function “development of regulation and guides” (Article 24 of Act of 15 April 1994) is ensured by the department “Regulation, International Affairs and Development (RIAD)”.

The regulatory function “licensing” (Art. 16 of Act of 15 April 1994) is ensured by the department “Facilities and Waste”; for nuclear facilities, industrial facilities and waste management facilities (including disposal facilities) and activities (including decommissioning).

The regulatory function “review and assessment” of facilities (Art. 15 & 16 of the Act of 15 April 1994), is performed by the departments responsible for the licensing of these facilities and by Bel V, for nuclear facilities, by delegation of the FANC/AFCN.

The regulatory function “inspection and enforcement” (Art 16§3) is performed by the same departments that are responsible for licensing and by Bel V for on-site inspections in nuclear facilities, with the support of FANC/AFCN nuclear inspectors when enforcement actions are needed.

Security matters (Art. 17 of the Act of 15 April 1994) are also within the mission of the FANC/AFCN and are entrusted to the department “Security and Transport”.

Other additional functions performed by the FANC/AFCN are:

• Radiological surveillance of the Belgian territory and the participation in the national nuclear emergency preparedness and response plan, which are allocated to the department “Health protection and Environment” (Art. 21 & 22 of the Act of 15 April 1994);

• Communication with the public and political authorities, allocated to the FANC/AFCN Management, the Communication office and to the RIAD department (Art. 26 of 1994).

The FANC/AFCN may propose laws and decrees to the Government and it has to implement laws and decrees to review licence applications, to propose licences or to grant licences, as applicable, to ensure compliance with the regulatory provisions and the licence conditions.

The FANC/AFCN is also a founding member of the West European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA). Together with Bel V, it participates actively in the Reactor Harmonization working group (RHWG) and in the Working Group on Waste and Decommissioning (WGWD) and in particular in the working group developing reference levels for waste disposal facilities.

Licensing takes place under the authority of the Minister of the Interior (Royal decree of August 7, 1995), who has the guardianship over the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC/AFCN). The Minister and the Agency are responsible for promulgating and enforcing regulations designed to protect the employees of the nuclear plants and the population against the hazards of ionising radiations. The Agency is assisted in technical matters by a Scientific Council of experts and representatives from various authorities responsible for nuclear safety. They have only an advisory role. The Council gives recommendations by absolute majority. Bel V, the subsidiary body of the FANC/AFCN, carries out official acceptance procedures for nuclear installations prior to commissioning and exercises supervision over nuclear installations during operation. Final authorization for nuclear plant commissioning rests with the King.

The main steps in the Belgian licensing procedure for nuclear installations (referred to as “Class I” installations in the Belgian regulations) are described in the GRR-2001 and are summarized below:

1. Filing of an application: the licence application is first sent to the Director General of the FANC/AFCN, together with the relevant information (characteristics of the installation, planned safety measures, an Environmental Impact Assessment, and a study of the premises and the demographic, geological, meteorological, etc. characteristics of the area of the installation). The application has to contain a preliminary safety report and a report describing the possible impacts on the environment;

2. The Scientific Council is consulted for the first time. After the Council has given its preliminary advice, it is sent to the applicant. Then the European Commission is also consulted (if necessary) according to article 37 of the EURATOM Treaty, as well as all the municipalities in a radius of 5 km around the installation (who inform their population) and the province involved. After the advice of the municipalities, of the province and of the European Commission have been received, the file is submitted to the Scientific Council once more, which then gives its definitive advice;

3. The Minister of the Interior then decides by submitting a Royal Decree to the King. This Royal Decree gives the construction and operation licence. It contains the conditions to be respected. These stipulate, among other things, the content of the safety report;

4. After the construction of the installation, and before the start of the operation, the FANC/AFCN or Bel V proceeds with the acceptance of the installation. This acceptance must establish the conformity of the installation with the general regulation, the stipulations of the construction and operation licence and the safety report. If the acceptance is favourable, the Minister of the Interior proposes to the King to confirm the construction and operation licence, which are granted for an unlimited period.

Nuclear Law, establishing responsibilities for different areas

• Act of 8 August 1980 on the budgetary proposals for 1979-1980, art. 179 §2 and §3 (as amended by the Acts of 11 January 1991 and 12 December 1997), establishing the “National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Fissile Materials” (ONDRAF/NIRAS) and entrusting ONDRAF/NIRAS with the safe transportation, treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal of all radioactive waste produced in the country. This law was modified by the Act of 11 January 1991, which also slightly changed the name of the agency to “Belgian National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials”.

• Royal Decree of 30 March 1981 defining the missions and duties of ONDRAF/NIRAS, as amended by the Royal Decrees of 16 October 1991, 4 April 2003, 1 May 2006, 18 May 2006, 2 June 2006, 13 June 2007, 3 July 2012, 25 April 2014.

• Act of 15 April 1994 on the protection of the public and the environment against the dangers of ionising radiation and on the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control. It constitutes the legal basis for the FANC/AFCN as regulatory body and sets out the basic elements for protecting the workers, the public and the environment against the adverse effects of ionising radiation, repealing and replacing the Act of 29 March 1958.

• Act of 31 January 2003 on the gradual phasing out of nuclear energy for the industrial production of electricity.

• Act of 18 December 2013 amending the Act of 31 January 2003 on the gradual phasing out of nuclear energy for the industrial production of electricity.

Civil nuclear liability

• Act of 22 July 1985, as modified by the Act of 11 July 2000, on nuclear liability, which integrates the Paris Convention and the follow-up Convention of Brussels and their additional protocols. This law sets the maximum amount of the operator’s civil liability for damages caused by a nuclear accident to about EUR 300 million (per accident and per site).

• Act of 10 February 2003 on the liabilities for staff employed by public entities

• Royal Decree of 28 December 2011 laying down the maximum amount of the damage for which the operator or carrier may be held responsible in the case of transport within the meaning of Article 14 of the Act of 22 July 1985 on third party liability in the field of nuclear energy.

Establishing a regulatory body

• Act of 15 April 1994 on the protection of the public and the environment against the dangers of ionising radiation and on the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC/AFCN), repealing and replacing the Act of 29 March 1958. This Act constitutes the legal basis for the FANC/AFCN as regulatory body, its role being defined in articles 15, 21 and 22.

• Act of 22 December 2008 amending the Act of 15 April 1994 and allowing the FANC/AFCN to create Bel V in order to perform regulatory missions that can be legally delegated by the FANC/AFCN, without having to use a public tender procedure.

Implementing IAEA safeguards

• Act of 26 November 1996 approving the Convention on Nuclear Safety of 20 September 1994.

• Act of 5 June 1998 approving the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident of 26 September 1986.

• Act of 5 June 1998 approving the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency of 26 September 1986.

• Act of 2 August 2002 approving the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of radioactive waste management of 5 September 1997.

Rules for environmental protection

• Act of 13 February 2006 on the assessment of the environmental consequences of certain plans and programs and the public participation in the preparation of plans and programs in connection with the environment.

• Act of 5 August 2006 on public access to environmental information.

Import and export controls of nuclear material and items

• Act of 1 June 2005 on the implementation of the Additional Protocol of 22 September 1998 to the International Agreement of 5 April 1973 in implementation of Article III, Paragraphs 1 and 4 of the Convention of 1 July 1968 on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.

• Act of 13 November 2002 approving the Additional Protocol to the Agreement in implementation of Article III, paragraphs 1 and 4 of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and Annexes I, II and III of 22 September 1998.

• Royal decree of 24 March 2009 on the import, transit, and export of radioactive materials, transposing directive 2006/117/EURATOM (replacing directive 1992/3/EURATOM) on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive substances between Member States and suppressing chapter IV of GRR-2001.

Security principles, including physical protection of nuclear material and facilities and protection of sensitive information

• Act of 11 December 1998 on classification and security clearances, certificates and advice.

• Act of 15 July 2008 approving the Amendment to the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) of 8 July 2005.

• Act of 10 September 2009 approving the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism of 14 September 2005.

• Act of 1 July 2011 relating to the security and protection of critical infrastructures, partially transposing Council Directive 2008/114/EC of 8 December 2008 on the identification and designation of European critical infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their protection.

• Royal decrees of 17 October 2011 on security, addressing categorization and protection of documents, physical protection of nuclear materials, nuclear installations and transport, categorization of nuclear materials and definition of security zones in nuclear installations and nuclear transport organizations, security clearances and certificates, and regulating access to security zones, nuclear material or documents in specific circumstances.

Roles of national government, local government, and stakeholders

• Special Act of 8 August 1980 on Institutional Reform, awarding federal and regional authorities joint responsibility for energy policy.

• Act of 8 August 1980 on the budgetary proposals for 1979-1980, art. 179 §2 and §3 (as amended by the Acts of 11 January 1991 and 12 December 1997), establishing the “National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Fissile Materials” (ONDRAF/NIRAS) and entrusting ONDRAF/NIRAS with the safe transportation, treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal of all radioactive waste produced in the country. This law was modified by the Act of 11 January 1991, which also slightly changed the name of the agency into “Belgian National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials”.

• Royal Decree of 30 March 1981 defining the missions and duties of ONDRAF/NIRAS, as amended by the Royal Decrees of 16 October 1991, 4 April 2003, 1 May 2006, 18 May 2006, 2 June 2006, 13 June 2007, 3 July 2012, 25 April 2014.

• Act of 22 July 1985, as modified by the Act of 11 July 2000, on nuclear liability, which integrates the Paris Convention and the follow-up Convention of Brussels and their additional protocols.

• Act of 29 April 1999 on the organisation of the electricity market (amended by the Act of 8 January 2012).

• Programme Act of 30 December 2001, modifying art. 179 §2, on the National Agency for Radioactive Wastes and Fissile Materials Management in the Act of 8 August 1980.

• Act of 1 June 2005 fully implementing EU Directive 2003/54/EC on the common rules for the internal electricity market.

• Act of 8 January 2012 amending the Act of 29 April 1999 on the organisation of the electricity market (and the Act of 12 April 1965 on the transport of gaseous and other products by pipeline).

Provisions for authorization system, responsibilities of the operator, inspection and enforcement, radiation protection of workers, public and environment

• Act of 15 April 1994 on the protection of the public and the environment against the dangers of ionising radiation and on the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control. This Act constitutes the legal basis for the FANC/AFCN as regulatory body and sets out the basic elements for protecting the workers, the public and the environment against the adverse effects of ionising radiation, repealing and replacing the Act of 29 March 1958.

• Act of 4 August 1996 on the welfare of workers in the performance of their work.

• Royal Decree of 20 July 2001 (amended) laying down the “General Regulations” regarding the protection of the public, the workers and the environment against the hazards of ionising radiation (GRR-2001, as amended) provides for the general principles set in the Act of 15 April1994, replacing the Royal Decree of 28 February 1963 (GRR-1963). The GRR-2001 scope is very wide and covers practically all human activities and situations which involve a risk due to the exposure to ionizing radiation.

  The GRR-2001 includes provisions for establishing an authorization system, responsibilities of the operator, inspection and enforcement and for site selection and approval within the licensing system.

  Article 3 of the Royal Decree defines the classification of nuclear installations (Class I to IV).

• Act of 5 August 2006 on access to environmental information by the general public, which also applies to the nuclear sector.

• Act of 15 May 2007 defining the notion of Civil Safety and describing the roles and missions of the different entities involved.

Safety of nuclear installations

• Act of 15 May 2007 defining the notion of Civil Safety and describing the roles and missions of the different entities involved.

• Royal decrees of 17 October 2011 on security, addressing categorization and protection of documents, physical protection of nuclear materials, nuclear installations and transport, categorization of nuclear materials and definition of security zones in nuclear installations and nuclear transport organizations, security clearances and certificates, and regulating access to security zones, nuclear material or documents in specific circumstances.

• Royal decree of 30 November 2011 on the Safety Requirements for Nuclear Installations (SRNI-2011). This royal decree includes all reference levels developed by the Reactor Harmonization Group (RHWG) of the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA). It also transposes the European Directive 2009/71/EURATOM in the Belgian regulations.

Radioactive waste and spent fuel management, including storage and disposal

• Act of 8 August 1980 on the budgetary proposals for 1979-1980, art. 179 §2 and §3 (as amended by the Acts of 11 January 1991 and 12 December 1997), establishing the “National Organisation for Radioactive Waste and Fissile Materials” (NIRAS) and entrusting ONDRAF/NIRAS with the safe transportation, treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal of all radioactive waste produced in the country.

• Royal Decree of 30 March 1981 defining the missions and duties of NIRAS, as amended by the Royal Decrees of 16 October 1991, 4 April 2003, 1 May 2006, 18 May 2006, 2 June 2006, 13 June 2007.

• Act of 11 January 1991, modifying the Act of 8 August 1980, to include certain aspects of the management of enriched fissile materials and the decommissioning of nuclear facilities other than nuclear power plants in the responsibilities of NIRAS, also slightly changing the name of the institution into “Belgian National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials”.

• Royal Decree of 16 October 1991 defining the procedures for the Act of 11 January 1991 and the responsibilities of ONDRAF/NIRAS: the qualification of installations for treatment and conditioning of radioactive waste; the establishment of acceptance criteria for conditioned and unconditioned radioactive waste based on General Rules to be approved by the safety authority.

• Act of 12 December 1997 extending the mission of ONDRAF/NIRAS to establish an inventory of all nuclear facilities and sites containing radioactive waste; and its financing.

• Ministerial letter of 10 February 1999 concerning General Rules for the establishment of acceptance criteria by ONDRAF/NIRAS for conditioned and non-conditioned waste.

• Programme Act of 30 December 2001, modifying art. 179 §2, on the National Agency for Radioactive Wastes and Fissile Materials Management in the Act of 8 August 1980.

• Royal Decree of 18 November 2002 regarding the practical implementation of the qualification of installations for the storage, treatment and conditioning of radioactive waste and installations for the radiological characterisation of radioactive waste.

• Act of 13 February 2006 transposing EC Directives 2001/42/EC and 2003/35/EC into Belgian legislation, requiring that the plans for the long-term management of the radioactive waste drawn up by ONDRAF/NIRAS must be accompanied by a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and submitted for public consultation.

• Royal Decree of 26 May 2006, transposing directive 2003/122/EURATOM on the control of sealed radioactive sources and, in particular, of “orphan sources”, amending accordingly the GRR-2001.

• Act of 29 December 2010, modifying i.a. the Act of 8 August 1980, giving ONDRAF/NIRAS additional legal tasks w.r.t. activities and measures in the domain of the societal support for the integration of a disposal facility at the local level. This law entitles ONDRAF/NIRAS to create a fund to cover all of the costs related to the societal conditions for the integration of a disposal facility at the local level. The supply to this fund is by the waste producers on the basis of the total amount of the fund for a specific disposal project, and on the basis of the waste volumes to be disposed of.

• Royal decree of 14 October 2011 on orphan sources

• Act of 3 June 2014, completely transposing EC Directive 2011/70/ EURATOM, the EU framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.

• Royal Decree of 25 April 2014, amending the Royal Decree of 30 March 1981 determining the tasks and functional modalities of the public body for the management of radioactive waste regarding the providing of resources for the medium and long term funds.

Decommissioning, including funding and institutional control

• Act of 8 August 1980 on the budgetary proposals for 1979-1980, art. 179 §2 and §3 (as amended by the Acts of 11 January 1991 and 12 December 1997), establishing ONDRAF/NIRAS and entrusting ONDRAF/NIRAS with the safe transportation, treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal of all radioactive waste produced in the country.

• Act of 11 January 1991, modifying the Act of 8 August 1980 which also slightly changed the name of ONDRAF/NIRAS into “National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials”.

• Act of 24 December 2002 providing for the levy of an excise tax, called federal dues, which is calculated on the basis of kWh consumed. These dues are paid to a fund earmarked to finance responsibilities resulting from the decommissioning of the sites of the former EUROCHEMIC plant (BP1) and the former Waste Department of SCK•CEN (BP2), as well as the treatment, processing, storage and evacuation of accumulated radioactive waste. The Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation (CREG) collects the amount owed as dues and transfers it to ONDRAF/NIRAS, which is responsible for the management and clean-up.

• Act of 24 March 2003 creating the legal framework for a structural financing mechanism of the dismantling activities on the BP1 and BP2 sites until their completion by a levy on the transported kWh. For each period of five years, ONDRAF/NIRAS has to present a financing plan to its supervising minister.

• Royal Decree of 24 March 2003 laying down the detailed rules on the federal contribution for the financing of certain public service obligations and the costs related to the regulation and control of the electricity market.

• Royal Decree of 4 April 2003 determining that ONDRAF/NIRAS’ funds available in the medium and the long term must be invested in financial instruments issued by the federal government. As a result, the board of ONDRAF/NIRAS has decided to invest the assets of the "Long-term fund" into Belgian governmental bonds which will be passively managed.

• Act of 11 April 2003 regarding liabilities and provisions for the decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear power plants and the management of the spent fuel from these nuclear power plants, amended by the Act of 25 April 2007. This law also determines the management of funds built up by SYNATOM for the decommissioning of the nuclear power plants.

• Royal Decree of 19 December 2003 to determine the amounts allocated to the financing of the nuclear liabilities BP1 and BP2 for the period 2004 to 2008, in implementation of Article 4, § 2 of the Royal Decree of 24 March 2003 laying down the detailed rules on the federal contribution for the financing of certain public service obligations and the costs related to the regulation and control of the electricity market.

• Act of 29 December 2010, modifying i.a. the Act of 8 August 1980, giving ONDRAF/NIRAS additional legal tasks w.r.t. activities and measures in the domain of the societal support for the integration of a disposal facility at the local level. This law entitles ONDRAF/NIRAS to create a fund to cover all of the costs related to the societal conditions for the integration of a disposal facility at the local level. The supply to this fund is by the waste producers on the basis of the total amount of the fund for a specific disposal project, and on the basis of the waste volumes to be disposed of.

Emergency preparedness

• Royal Decree of 17 October 2003, defining a nuclear and radiological emergency plan for the Belgian territory as well as notification criteria from the operators to the Government. Emergency planning is a competence belonging to the federal Minister of Home Affairs and his administrative services.

• Royal Decree of 24 November 2003 setting the emergency planning zones relative to the direct actions to protect the population (evacuation, sheltering, and iodine prophylaxis). These evacuation and sheltering zones vary from 0 to 10 km radius depending on the nuclear plant concerned; the stable iodine tablets pre-distribution zones extend from 10 up to 20 km around the nuclear plants.

• Royal Decree of 16 February 2006 organising the planning and interventions during emergency situations.

• Act of 15 May 2007 defining the notion of Civil Safety and describing the roles and missions of the different entities involved.

Transport of radioactive material

• Act of 8 August 1980 on the budgetary proposals for 1979-1980, art. 179 §2 and §3 (as amended by the Acts of 11 January 1991 and 12 December 1997), establishing ONDRAF/NIRAS and entrusting ONDRAF/NIRAS with the safe transportation, treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal of all radioactive waste produced in the country. This law was modified by the Act of 11 January 1991, which also slightly changed the name of the institution into “National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials”.

• Royal decrees of 17 October 2011 on security, addressing categorization and protection of documents, physical protection of nuclear materials, nuclear installations and transport, categorization of nuclear materials and definition of security zones in nuclear installations and nuclear transport organizations, security clearances and certificates, and regulating access to security zones, nuclear material or documents in specific circumstances.

• Royal Decree of 28 December 2011 laying down the maximum amount of the damage for which the operator or carrier may be held responsible in the case of transport within the meaning of Article 14 of the Act of 22 July 1985 on third party liability in the field of nuclear energy.