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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.

Operating7Retired10circle 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
3
Operating
1
Operating capacity
1,089MW
Country

Units

UnitStatusTypeModelGross MWOnline
Unit 3 Operating 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 Operating

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelWestinghouse 3-loop
Size classLarge
Gross capacity1,089MW
Net capacity1,038MW
Thermal output3,000MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorWestinghouse Electric Company
Planned retirement2035planned, not actual
OwnerEngie Electrabel100%
OperatorEngie Electrabel
Construction start1 Nov 1978
First criticality5 Jun 1985
Grid connection15 Jun 1985
Commercial operation1 Sep 1985

Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Tihange nuclear power plant 3

Tihange nuclear power plant 1 Retired

Corrected against a later source

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 typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelFramatome 3 loops reactor
Size classLarge
Gross capacity1,009MW
Net capacity962MW
Thermal output2,873MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendornot on record
OwnerEngie Electrabel100%
OperatorEngie Electrabel
Construction start1 Jun 1970
First criticality21 Feb 1975
Grid connection7 Mar 1975
Commercial operation1 Oct 1975
Permanent shutdown1 Oct 2025

Tihange nuclear power plant 2 Retired

Reactor typePressurised water reactor (PWR)
ModelWestinghouse 3-loop
Size classLarge
Gross capacity1,055MW
Net capacity1,008MW
Thermal output3,064MWt
Enrichment3–5% U-235
NSSS vendorWestinghouse Electric Company
OwnerEngie Electrabel100%
OperatorEngie Electrabel
Construction start1 Apr 1976
First criticality5 Oct 1982
Grid connection13 Oct 1982
Commercial operation1 Jun 1983
Permanent shutdown1 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

UnitConstruction startGrid connectionYearsFleet median, same decade
Unit 1197019754.85.4 (1970s)
Unit 2197619826.57.3 (1980s)
Unit 3197819856.67.3 (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
LocationWallonne, Belgium
Coordinates50.5334, 5.2714
Elevationabout 70 mabove sea level
SettingAbout 110 km from the sea
RegionWestern 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 & operators
Owners
Engie Electrabel
Operators
Engie Electrabel

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Sources

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