SUEZ and nuclear energy
Safe, competitive and clean, nuclear energy is currently an essential part of the global energy mix, and constitutes a strong strategic area for the SUEZ group. The SUEZ group believes in the potential of nuclear energy, which has several advantages at all levels: multiple uranium supply sources, stability of production costs and significant contribution to the process of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In more than 30 years of operation, SUEZ has shown its commitment to a very high level of safety for its facilities as well as stringent management, and has reached a recognised level of performance in this area. For this purpose, the SUEZ group has a "Central Management Department for Nuclear Activities", fully devoted to the development of projects for the group in the nuclear sector.
Our know-how
The know-how of the SUEZ group covers the entire value chain of nuclear energy: The subsidiaries Tractebel Engineering and Itena develop innovative solutions in nuclear engineering at all stages of design and production. At the same time, Corys offers veritable expertise in management simulators. The SUEZ group also has all the skills required for the construction of plants through its subsidiaries Tractebel Engineering, Coyne et Bellier, Endel, Ineo and Axima. The preparation of fuels is essentially the task of the subsidiaries Synatom and Tractebel Engineering. The operation of power plants is managed by Electrabel and its subsidiaries, working together with the subsidiaries responsible for maintenance (Endel, Tecnubel or Fabricom GTI) Lastly, dismantling and waste management are managed at all levels by Tractebel Engineering.
The Tihange (Belgium) nuclear power plant
Electrabel, a subsidiary of the SUEZ group, operates the Tihange plant in Belgium. This plant produces more than 23 billion KWh, which represents approximately 30% of the electricity produced in Belgium. In addition to the permanent maintenance operations carried out throughout the year, the Tihange plant is shut down every 18 months to allow fuel replenishment and to carry out in-depth maintenance: verifications, inspections and cleaning, and also improvements and replacements. For one month, an average of 1500 people from subsidiaries of the Group or external service providers come to work alongside the usual teams. The relevance and quality of these actions are the best guarantees for the safety and efficiency of the production tool.
Key figures
SUEZ has been producing nuclear electricity for more than 30 years. Nuclear energy currently represents 11% of the SUEZ group?s energy mix. On 31/12/2007, the operating electrical capacity of the group in this domain was 6289 MWe. The current nuclear energy production level of the 25 EU member states means that each year the emission of around 700 million tons of CO2 is avoided, which corresponds to the amount of CO2 given off each year by all of the European Union's automobiles.