A brief history - five key stages

Synatom was founded on October 29, 1969 to conduct research into nuclear facilities and then successfully build and operate them, in the period at the end of the 1960s when the first Belgian nuclear power plants (Doel 1 and 2 on the River Scheldt, and Tihange 1 on the River Meuse) were being built.

  • 1977 –Restated articles of association: Synatom assumes its current corporate purpose, namely to manage the whole of the nuclear fuel cycle in Belgium both upstream and downstream of nuclear power plant operations.
  • 1983 – The Belgian State, in the form of the National Investment Company (NIC), acquires a 50% stake in Synatom. This is also when the company assumed its current name, the Société belge des combustibles nucléaires/Belgische Maatschappij voor Kernbrandstoffen Synatom (so the Belgian Nuclear Fuel Company Synatom), retaining the name Synatom for short.
  • 1994 –The Belgian State sells its stake in Synatom. Suez-Tractebel takes ownership of all the shares bar one (a golden share held by the State, giving it the right to veto any decision running counter to the country's energy policy).
  • 2003 – Restated articles of association pursuant to the Act of April 11, 2003: Synatom also becomes Belgium's nuclear provisioning company.
  • 2004 –Suez-Tractebel sells its shares in Synatom to Electrabel.

Articles of association

Synatom is the short name for the Société belge des combustibles nucléaires/Belgische Maatschappij voor Kernbrandstoffen Synatom (Belgian Nuclear Fuel Company Synatom).

Synatom is a public limited company under Belgian law and has its registered office at Boulevard Simon Bolivar 34, BE-1000 Brussels.

Synatom has share capital fixed at €49,600,000, represented by 2,000,000 shares. All of these bar one are held by Electrabel (a subsidiary of the ENGIE Group and the operator of Belgium's seven nuclear reactors).

The Belgian State holds a single golden share, giving the Federal Minister of Energy special powers, most notably the right to veto any decision running counter to the country's energy policy.

Two representatives of the Federal Government sit on the Board of Directors

As a reminder, the Board of Directors of Synatom consists of 8 Board members, two of whom are independent.  It also includes an Audit Committee and an Investments Committee.