BR3 nuclear power plant
BR3 nuclear power plant is a nuclear site in Belgium with 1 unit on record. None is currently operating.
Units
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.
BR3 nuclear power plant 3 Retired
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | Prototype |
| Size class | Very small |
| Gross capacity | 12MW |
| Net capacity | 10MW |
| Thermal output | 41MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | Studiecentrum Voor Kernenergie100% Centre D'Etude De L'Energie Nucleaire |
| Operator | Centre D'Etude De L'Energie Nucleaire Studiecentrum Voor Kernenergie |
| Construction start | 1 Nov 1957 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 29 Aug 1962 |
| Grid connection | 10 Oct 1962 |
| Commercial operation | 10 Oct 1962 |
| Permanent shutdown | 30 Jun 1987 |
BR3 nuclear power plant in context
The one unit with both construction and grid dates on record took 4.9 years from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1960s is 5.0 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Doel nuclear power plant (60 km), Tihange nuclear power plant (77 km) and Borssele nuclear power plant (99 km).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 3 | 1957 | 1962 | 4.9 | 5.0 (1960s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doel nuclear power plant | Belgium | 60 km | 1.1 |
| Tihange nuclear power plant | Belgium | 77 km | 1.1 |
| Borssele nuclear power plant | Netherlands | 99 km | 0.5 |
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.
| Location | Vlaams, Belgium |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51.2169, 5.0998 |
| Elevation | about 25 mabove sea level |
| Setting | About 50 km from the sea |
| Region | Western Europe |
| Units by status | Retired: 1 |
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 | Centre D'Etude De L'Energie Nucleaire Studiecentrum Voor Kernenergie |
|---|---|
| Operators | Centre D'Etude De L'Energie Nucleaire Studiecentrum Voor Kernenergie |
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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