Belgium has been an important actor in the applications of nuclear energy since the beginning. Very early, the availability of uranium from the former Belgian colony has contributed to the birth in the US of both military and civil aspects of the same. After the Second World War, scientists and industrialists participated to the development of the peaceful aspects of this new industry; the Belgian utilities own and operate today seven nuclear power units (four in Doel and three in Tihange), which produce 55% of the electricity in the country.