“That’s actually an unimaginably long time, and it’s beyond me how anyone would classify such a technology as sustainable.”
(Photo: IMAGO/Metodi Popov)
Berlin According to surveys, a majority of Germans are critical of the nuclear phase-out planned for Saturday. Significantly more than half (59 percent) consider the political decision to be wrong, only around a third (34 percent) think it was right, according to the Deutschlandtrend survey for the ARD “Morgenmagazin”.
According to the Infratest-Dimap survey, there is overwhelming approval for the end of nuclear power only in the 18 to 34 age group (50 to 39 percent), while rejection predominates among middle-aged and older age groups.
On Saturday, the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany – Isar 2 in Bavaria, Emsland in Lower Saxony and Neckarwestheim 2 in Baden-Württemberg – are to go offline for good.
This was actually supposed to happen at the end of last year. Because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, the traffic light coalition decided after a word of power from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) last year to let the three reactors continue to run over the winter.
The supporters of the parties evaluated the step differently in the survey: while supporters of the Greens (82 percent) and the SPD (56 percent) welcome the end of nuclear energy, supporters of the Union parties (83 percent) and AfD (81 percent) turn their backs ) almost closed against it. The majority of FDP supporters (65 percent) also vote against an exit.
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The Greens politician and Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke believes that the nuclear phase-out is also correct because of the disposal problem. There is no safe repository for the previous nuclear waste, and finding a suitable location for it is an “expensive task of the century,” Lemke wrote in a guest article for the “Tagesspiegel”.
Lemke calculates that another 30,000 generations will have to live with nuclear waste. “It’s actually incredibly long, and it’s beyond me how anyone would classify such a technology as sustainable,” she explained.
According to the Atomic Energy Act, the final shutdown of the power plant should take place on Saturday, April 15th.
(Photo: dpa)
Unlike the SPD and the Greens, the coalition partner FDP is now also against the shutdown, as is the opposition Union – because there are fears that energy could become scarce again or at least even more expensive. The deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Lukas Koehler, expressed confidence that the last three nuclear power plants can be reactivated next winter if the Ukraine war triggers another energy crisis.
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“The electricity companies also see the need for the dismantling not to begin before the coming winter,” said Köhler to the Welt-TV broadcaster. It is a matter of prudence to ensure that the piles can then “be switched on again if in doubt”.
It is not entirely improbable that the dismantling after the shutdown will not have started by the beginning of winter. The dismantling permits from the responsible state ministries for the environment are not yet available. The Isar 2 operator, for example, the Eon company Preussen-Elektra, expects the license to be granted in the coming months and that dismantling could then begin in early 2024.
However, immediate reactivation is unlikely to be possible: For this, the Atomic Energy Act would have to be changed again, new operating licenses applied for and granted, the necessary safety checks carried out and the necessary fuel rods ordered. According to earlier assessments by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Environment, the latter will be delivered after a year at the earliest.
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