Belgium wants more nuclear power production, Engie's CFO says

By Forrest Crellin and America Hernandez

PARIS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The Belgian government is pushing to develop new nuclear energy capacity and to extend the lifespan of existing reactors, according to the chief financial officer of the reactors' operator, France's Engie, which has warned it has little interest in maintaining nuclear assets.

CFO Pierre-Francois Riolacci spoke about Belgium's nuclear power plans on Thursday after the company released its results and announced a major acquisition in Britain. He added that the company disagreed with a draft report by the Belgian regulator on future costs related to the nuclear fleet, which he called 'conservative'.

A final report on the costs of dismantling older reactors and amounts required to operate newer ones going forward is expected by the end of April, Engie's CEO Catherine MacGregor said.

Engie has stated previously that it prefers to focus on assets with better profitability such as renewable energy and batteries rather than nuclear.

Engie decommissioned three Belgian nuclear reactors in 2025 and its last two operating Belgian reactors, Doel 4 and Tihange 3, are set to continue producing power until 2035 with the government mulling further lifetime extensions.

The company said that it is open to extending the remaining two nuclear reactors beyond their current 10-year life extension, but is asking for clarity on decommissioning costs.

"This extension is something that we have said all along that we were not super excited about considering, but that we could potentially indeed enter into a study to understand the economic, operational safety feasibility of such an extension," MacGregor said.

She added that the company would only do so if it had a "stable, clear and predictable" dismantling provision framework.