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Doel nuclear power plant

Doel nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in Belgium with 1 operating unit totalling 1,090 MW gross. The site has 4 units on record in total.

Operating6Retired9circle area ∝ site capacity Coastlines, borders and lakes: Natural Earth (1:10 million, public domain), which is generalised, so a coastal plant can sit a couple of kilometres off its true shoreline. Site positions: Global Nuclear Power Tracker.
Units on record
4
Operating
1
Operating capacity
1,090MW
Country

Units

UnitStatusTypeModelGross MWOnline
Unit 4 Operating PWR WH 3LP 1,090 1985
Unit 1 Retired PWR WH 2LP 454 1975
Unit 2 Retired PWR WH 2LP 454 1975
Unit 3 Retired PWR WH 3LP 1,056 1982

Unit by unit

Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.

Doel nuclear power plant 4 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelWestinghouse 3-loop
Size classLarge
Gross capacity1,090MW
Net capacity1,038MW
Thermal output2,988MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorWestinghouse Electric Company
Planned retirement2035planned, not actual
OwnerSocietes Reunies D'Energie Du Bassin De L'Escaut SA100%
OperatorEngie Electrabel
EDF Belgium
EDF Luminus
Construction start1 Dec 1978
First criticality31 Mar 1985
Grid connection8 Apr 1985
Commercial operation1 Jul 1985

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Doel nuclear power plant 4

Doel nuclear power plant 1 Retired

Corrected against a later source

Permanently shut down on 15 February 2025 under Belgium's nuclear phase-out law, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.

status: operating → retired · IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record DOEL-1 · verified 2026-09-06

Permanently shut down on 15 February 2025 under Belgium's nuclear phase-out law, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.

permanent_shutdown: not set → 2025-02-14 · IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record DOEL-1 · verified 2026-09-06

Permanently shut down on 15 February 2025 under Belgium's nuclear phase-out law, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.

retirement_year: not set → 2025 · IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record DOEL-1 · verified 2026-09-06

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelWestinghouse 2-loop
Size classLarge
Gross capacity454MW
Net capacity445MW
Thermal output1,311MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorWestinghouse Electric Company
OwnerIndivision Doel100%
OperatorEngie Electrabel
EDF Belgium
EDF Luminus
Construction start1 Jul 1969
First criticality18 Jul 1974
Grid connection28 Aug 1974
Commercial operation15 Feb 1975
Permanent shutdown14 Feb 2025

Doel nuclear power plant 2 Retired

Corrected against a later source

Permanently shut down on 30 November 2025, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.

status: operating → retired · IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record DOEL-2 · verified 2026-09-06

Permanently shut down on 30 November 2025, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.

permanent_shutdown: not set → 2025-11-30 · IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record DOEL-2 · verified 2026-09-06

Permanently shut down on 30 November 2025, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.

retirement_year: not set → 2025 · IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record DOEL-2 · verified 2026-09-06

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelWestinghouse 2-loop
Size classLarge
Gross capacity454MW
Net capacity445MW
Thermal output1,311MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorWestinghouse Electric Company
OwnerIndivision Doel100%
OperatorEngie Electrabel
EDF Belgium
EDF Luminus
Construction start1 Sep 1971
First criticality4 Aug 1975
Grid connection21 Aug 1975
Commercial operation1 Dec 1975
Permanent shutdown30 Nov 2025

Doel nuclear power plant 3 Retired

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelWestinghouse 3-loop
Size classLarge
Gross capacity1,056MW
Net capacity1,006MW
Thermal output3,054MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorWestinghouse Electric Company
OwnerSocietes Reunies D'Energie Du Bassin De L'Escaut SA100%
OperatorEngie Electrabel
EDF Belgium
EDF Luminus
Construction start1 Jan 1975
First criticality14 Jun 1982
Grid connection23 Jun 1982
Commercial operation1 Oct 1982
Permanent shutdown23 Sep 2022

Doel nuclear power plant in context

By gross operating capacity Doel nuclear power plant is the 1st largest of 2 operating nuclear sites in Belgium, holding 50% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 141st of 172 worldwide.

Its operating unit started up in 1985; the unit is 41.0 years old.

The 4 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 4.0 to 7.5 years (median 5.8) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1980s is 7.3 years.

The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Borssele nuclear power plant (39 km), Tihange nuclear power plant (113 km) and Chooz nuclear power plant (142 km).

The current net rating of Unit 4 differs from its design net capacity by +3.8% (1,000 MW at design, 1,038 MW now).

The tracker lists a planned retirement year, a forecast and not a decision on record, for 1 operating unit: Unit 4 (2035).

Build time by unit

UnitConstruction startGrid connectionYearsFleet median, same decade
Unit 1196919745.25.4 (1970s)
Unit 2197119754.05.4 (1970s)
Unit 3197519827.57.3 (1980s)
Unit 4197819856.47.3 (1980s)

Nearest tracked nuclear sites

How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.

Site detail
LocationVlaams, Belgium
Coordinates51.3254, 4.2597
Elevationabout 10 mabove sea level
SettingOn the sea coast
RegionWestern Europe
Units by status
Operating: 1
Retired: 3

Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.

Owners & operators
Owners
Indivision Doel
Societes Reunies D'Energie Du Bassin De L'Escaut SA
Operators
Engie Electrabel
EDF Belgium
EDF Luminus

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Sources

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