Belgium has dropped nuclear phaseout plans adopted over two decades ago. Previously, it had delayed the phaseout for 10 years over the energy uncertainty triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Belgium’s parliament on Thursday voted to drop the country’s planned nuclear phaseout.
In 2003, Belgium passed a law for the gradual phaseout of nuclear energy. The law stipulated that nuclear power plants were to be closed by 2025 at the latest, while prohibiting the construction of new reactors.
In 2022, Belgium delayed the phaseout by 10 years, with plans to run one reactor in each of its two plants as a backup due to energy uncertainty triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
I don’t speak German. Generation 3+ only came into use in the West in the last 5-10 years. China has over 150 planned for a reason, watch the link I already provided. They are fundamentally built to avoid the accidents of the past. The standards set by the Chinese on this meet Western standards, hell, they are selling the tech to us.
Overview: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/advanced-nuclear-power-reactors
Environmental impacts of Gen 3: https://scholar.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/api/records/9ca88a42-f3ec-47ff-bdf4-fe085a817713/file/0fa0df8ea85e422dc87b706749f77aa6578e7be0cce2b38b5ff2ffaad8c41809.pdf
A bit behind the development of safety: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/safety-of-nuclear-power-reactors
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_III_reactor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_IV_reactor
More on China, because the YT link already covers this stuff:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/energy-research/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1147016/full
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422500183X