Tihange nuclear power plant
Tihange nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in Belgium with 1 operating unit totalling 1,089 MW gross. The site has 3 units on record in total.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 3 | PWR | WH 3LP | 1,089 | 1985 | |
| Unit 1 | Retired | PWR | Framatome 3 loops reactor | 1,009 | 1975 |
| Unit 2 | Retired | PWR | WH 3LP | 1,055 | 1983 |
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.
Tihange nuclear power plant 3
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | Westinghouse 3-loop |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,089MW |
| Net capacity | 1,038MW |
| Thermal output | 3,000MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Westinghouse Electric Company |
| Planned retirement | 2035planned, not actual |
| Owner | Engie Electrabel100% |
| Operator | Engie Electrabel |
| Construction start | 1 Nov 1978 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 5 Jun 1985 |
| Grid connection | 15 Jun 1985 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Sep 1985 |
Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Tihange nuclear power plant 3
Tihange nuclear power plant 1 Retired
Permanently shut down on 1 October 2025 at the end of its extended licence, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.
status:
operating → retired
· IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record TIHANGE-1
· verified 2026-09-06
Permanently shut down on 1 October 2025 at the end of its extended licence, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.
permanent_shutdown:
not set → 2025-10-01
· IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record TIHANGE-1
· verified 2026-09-06
Permanently shut down on 1 October 2025 at the end of its extended licence, after the GNPT record was last researched in May 2024.
retirement_year:
not set → 2025
· IAEA Power Reactor Information System, reactor record TIHANGE-1
· verified 2026-09-06
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | Framatome 3 loops reactor |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,009MW |
| Net capacity | 962MW |
| Thermal output | 2,873MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | Engie Electrabel100% |
| Operator | Engie Electrabel |
| Construction start | 1 Jun 1970 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 21 Feb 1975 |
| Grid connection | 7 Mar 1975 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Oct 1975 |
| Permanent shutdown | 1 Oct 2025 |
Tihange nuclear power plant 2 Retired
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | Westinghouse 3-loop |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,055MW |
| Net capacity | 1,008MW |
| Thermal output | 3,064MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | Westinghouse Electric Company |
| Owner | Engie Electrabel100% |
| Operator | Engie Electrabel |
| Construction start | 1 Apr 1976 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 5 Oct 1982 |
| Grid connection | 13 Oct 1982 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Jun 1983 |
| Permanent shutdown | 1 Feb 2023 |
Tihange nuclear power plant in context
By gross operating capacity Tihange nuclear power plant is the 2nd largest of 2 operating nuclear sites in Belgium, holding 50% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 142nd of 172 worldwide.
Its operating unit started up in 1985; the unit is 41.0 years old.
The 3 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 4.8 to 6.6 years (median 6.5) 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 Chooz nuclear power plant (60 km), Doel nuclear power plant (113 km) and Cattenom nuclear power plant (141 km).
The current net rating of Unit 3 differs from its design net capacity by +1.8% (1,020 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 3 (2035).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | 1970 | 1975 | 4.8 | 5.4 (1970s) |
| Unit 2 | 1976 | 1982 | 6.5 | 7.3 (1980s) |
| Unit 3 | 1978 | 1985 | 6.6 | 7.3 (1980s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chooz nuclear power plant | France | 60 km | 3.1 |
| Doel nuclear power plant | Belgium | 113 km | 1.1 |
| Cattenom nuclear power plant | France | 141 km | 5.4 |
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 Tihange 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 | Wallonne, Belgium |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50.5334, 5.2714 |
| Elevation | about 70 mabove sea level |
| Setting | About 110 km from the sea |
| Region | Western Europe |
| Units by status | Operating: 1 Retired: 2 |
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 | Engie Electrabel |
|---|---|
| Operators | Engie Electrabel |
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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