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.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 4 | 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 |
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
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | 1969 | 1974 | 5.2 | 5.4 (1970s) |
| Unit 2 | 1971 | 1975 | 4.0 | 5.4 (1970s) |
| Unit 3 | 1975 | 1982 | 7.5 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit 4 | 1978 | 1985 | 6.4 | 7.3 (1980s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borssele nuclear power plant | Netherlands | 39 km | 0.5 |
| Tihange nuclear power plant | Belgium | 113 km | 1.1 |
| Chooz nuclear power plant | France | 142 km | 3.1 |
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.
Earthquakes nearby
Loading the latest USGS check…
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth | Epicentre | Distance |
|---|
Magnitude 4.0 and above within 200 km of Doel nuclear power plant's listed coordinates, past 30 days. This is distance, not shaking: it says nothing about damage or any change in operation. Every plant.
| Location | Vlaams, Belgium |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51.3254, 4.2597 |
| Elevation | about 10 mabove sea level |
| Setting | On the sea coast |
| Region | Western 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 | Indivision Doel Societes Reunies D'Energie Du Bassin De L'Escaut SA |
|---|---|
| Operators | Engie Electrabel EDF Belgium EDF Luminus |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data