The question has been on the media and on our minds for a while: will there be a black-out this winter? Or even worse, will we have to use candlelight? The current situation with nuclear power plants potentially exposes Belgium to electricity shortage. But these nuclear outages are not the only cause… Starting with a ... Read more
In a rapidly changing world full of political and economic uncertainties (notably regarding sustainability, security of supply and competitiveness aspects of energy), a strong interaction is needed between Research, Innovation and Education in order to reduce some of these uncertainties. In the particular area of nuclear fission research, a new interdisciplinary approach is under development, ... Read more
In the summer of 2012, inspections of the reactor vessels of Doel 3 and Tihange 2 nuclear power stations revealed the presence of indications that required in-depth analyses. Electrabel carried out a thorough investigation in response to the indications found in the two reactor vessels. These investigations confirmed that the indications correspond to hydrogen flakes ... Read more
Every Government has to deal with the Energy Trilemma of Security of Supply, Affordability and Sustainability. For the UK, facing narrowing generation margins, consumer resistance to energy price increases and ambitious daunting emission reduction targets, new nuclear generation has been seen as part of the solution. But new nuclear projects in many countries have a ... Read more
In a first part, the main principles of thermonuclear fusion and the potentialities offered by fusion as a power source will be presented. Fusion offers indeed a number of features (availability of fuel; limited risks) which are so attractive that it justifies the significant development effort which is presently being made. The challenges posed by ... Read more
In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Quentin Michel will highlight the main elements of the Belgian nuclear trade control system. To halt the spread of nuclear technology, countries need to keep a close eye on the exports of sensitive goods. Companies are not allowed to export any product. They do not only need export permits for ... Read more
The European Human Resource Observatory for Nuclear (EHRO-N) provides the European Commission with essential data related to supply and demand for nuclear experts in the EU28 and the enlargement and integration countries based on bottom-up information from the nuclear industry. The objective is to assess how the supply of experts for the nuclear industry in ... Read more
The accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere due to the use of fossil fuels for the production of energy, the release in traces of other gases which could modify the radiative balance of the climatic system, the intensive deforestation and the artificial modification of the soil linked with demographic explosion are that much ... Read more
In this lecture, the total CO2 cost of nuclear energy is first discussed on the basis of a comparison of three studies from organizations with different views on nuclear energy. These values are then put into perspective through a comparison to other sources of energy for electricity production. The lecture will finally address the challenges and ... Read more
In the summer of 2012, inspections of the reactor vessels of Doel 3 and Tihange 2 nuclear power stations revealed the presence of indications that required in-depth analyses. Electrabel carried out a thorough investigation in response to the indications found in the two reactor vessels. These investigations confirmed that the indications correspond to hydrogen flakes ... Read more
