Taking the time to reach an agreement with Engie on the nuclear phase-out is not a problem, but making Belgians foot the bill is, Ecolo co-leader Jean-Marc Nollet said on Sunday on Belgian TV channel, RTL-Tvi.
Around 10 days ago, Engie said in a note attached to its quarterly results that the goal was to reach a final agreement with the Belgian government on extending the life of Doel 4 and Tihange 3 by June 30.
Without an agreement by that date, a restart in 2026 is no longer reasonable, Engie’s CEO warned at the time.
The Belgian government and Engie – the parent company of Engie Electrabel and operator of the country’s nuclear power plants – have been negotiating for several months on extending the life of the two reactors.
“We took our responsibilities and said we had to negotiate with Engie on the extension of two reactors. The organisation that will manage nuclear waste has put a figure on the cost…but today, Engie is offering us much less,” explained Nollet, co-leader of the French-speaking Greens (Ecolo).
For the co-leader, there is one condition for the success of the negotiation: respecting the principle of the polluter pays.
“It is not Belgians who will pay the cost of waste, it is Engie. And if Engie does not pay attention to this during the negotiations, it will have to pay it in the law,” he added.
