The last nuclear power plant in Germany should go offline at the end of 2022 – or not? Proponents of the controversial technology are daring to go out of cover in large numbers a good ten years after the reactor disaster in Fukushima and the final decision to phase out nuclear power.
But they are subject to an illusion. Conventional nuclear power in Germany no longer has a future. Period. And that’s just as well.
The nuclear power chapter ended amid great disputes, but ultimately by consensus. To question this compromise again would be socio-politically fatal – and it no longer works. For one simple reason: the operators of the nuclear power plants themselves are no longer interested in an overhaul.
The fact that there is again a serious debate in business and science does not change that – and the proponents of nuclear power also have good arguments: they argue that nuclear power could help us phase out coal and switch to renewable energies, after all, reactors also generate CO2 -free electricity such as wind or solar energy.
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The nuclear power plants could help us to keep the electricity prices under control and to meet the increasing demand for electricity. Other EU states such as France also argue like this and try to discredit Germany’s path.
A revision could not be conveyed to the population
Yes, maybe the decision was rushed in retrospect. In view of the rapid climate change, the coal phase-out has absolute priority, and an extension of the running times – as planned shortly before Fukushima – would buy us time today.
But that’s pointless. First, there were and are convincing reasons for phasing out nuclear power. After Fukushima, the technology that had been debated for decades simply had no future. The pictures of the GAU in Japan finally discredited the technology in large parts of the population. The final disposal of the radioactive contaminated sites is hardly less frightening to the population.
The new generation of smaller nuclear power plants that are currently being worked on around the world will not change this fear – but that shouldn’t prevent us from at least continuing to research new technologies in this area.
Second, the decision to phase out nuclear power has accelerated the energy transition once again. Ten years ago, Germany pushed ahead with the restructuring of our energy supply: more was invested in renewable energies and in networks that can cope with the new, green and decentralized energy world. So far this year, almost 48 percent of the electricity generated in Germany has come from renewable sources. And after all the billions in subsidies, wind and solar energy have now reached profitability. Without the decision at the time, that would certainly not have been possible.
Nuclear phase-out: lawsuits would be programmed
Thirdly, it is practically impossible to revise the nuclear phase-out. It wasn’t just a simple political decision back in the summer of 2011. The decision resulted in lawsuits and constitutional complaints from nuclear companies. These have now been resolved and the question of compensation has been clarified.
Above all, however, the particularly controversial question was clarified: Who is liable for the long-term consequences? The corporations had to bring billions into a new fund, which in return assumes liability. The process was extremely painful for Eon, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall – it was associated with huge write-offs and high losses. Ultimately, however, the clarification of the question of liability was also a relief for the companies. The risk weighed heavily on stock prices.
Anyone who is now shaking the nuclear phase-out, wanting to extend the service life of the last six nuclear power plants, would call into question all agreements – the compensation regulations and those relating to the nuclear fund. Lawsuits from opponents of nuclear power would be programmed.
The nuclear companies themselves are no longer interested
Fourth, and this is the crucial point, there is no longer a company in Germany that has an interest in nuclear power. Eon, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall may have long resisted the nuclear phase-out, but in the meantime they have not only come to terms with it. You are aggressively adopting the energy transition.
Eon has long since sold fossil fuel power plants and is concentrating on sales and networks. EnBW and Vattenfall are also committed to the energy transition. And even Germany’s number one coal company, RWE, has made renewable energies its core business – and is ready to phase out coal itself quickly if the framework conditions are right.
In all the transformations, nuclear power is just a burden. And for a few years longer, the corporations will certainly not risk new protests and lawsuits.
A renaissance of nuclear power may be debated in Europe, but it is impossible in Germany. What is more, the debate is harmful. It arouses the illusion that the problems with the energy transition, the impending energy gap and rising energy prices could in part be resolved over longer periods of time.
No, other solutions are needed for this: a determined expansion of renewable energies, less bureaucracy and, above all, faster approval procedures. Gas-fired power plants are needed as a bridging technology – and a really honest assessment of whether the coal phase-out is already possible in 2030.
More: Bill Gates wants to save the climate with nuclear power: “The demand for electricity will increase dramatically.”