Environment Minister Lemke: The nuclear phase-out is irreversible


Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) clearly rejects calls for extended operating times for the still existing nuclear power plants. “The isolated calls for extension of the running time are of no use to anyone, but only create unnecessary uncertainty,” said Lemke of the dpa. The nuclear phase-out is proceeding according to plan and that is a good thing.

“The nuclear phase-out is irreversible. It was decided by a broad consensus and is welcomed by the population,” said Lemke. The move is a “great success for the protection of people and the environment” and makes the country safer.

Lemke’s predecessor Svenja Schulze (SPD) had already made it clear again and again that there could be no alternative to turning away from nuclear energy in Germany. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the cross-party Bundestag resolution to phase out nuclear power, Schulze pointed out the still uncontrollable risks of nuclear power at the end of June this year, and that nuclear power was increasingly coming from outdated reactors.

The resolution of 2011 states that all nuclear power plants still running in Germany will be shut down by the end of 2022. The Grohnde, Brokdorf and Gundremmingen C nuclear power plants will be shut down by December 31, 2021 at the latest, Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland a year later.

Recently, there has been increasing demand to revive nuclear power in Germany, otherwise gaps in the energy supply could arise in view of the energy transition. Lemke said, “There were already fears of blackouts and power shortages when it was decided to phase out nuclear power a decade ago. But these fears did not arise, on the contrary”. The security of supply remains “a valuable commodity for the federal government that will by no means be called into question even if the phase-out of coal is significantly accelerated”.


Unit C of the nuclear power plant in Gundremmingen, Bavaria, has been in operation since March 1984. Block A was in operation from 1967 to 1977. Unit B, which went online in 1984, was shut down on December 31, 2017, and Unit C – also commissioned in 1984 – is to follow in 2021. (Image: kkw-gundremmingen.de)

Half of the EU Member States have never relied on nuclear power, including Austria, Luxembourg and Denmark. Belgium has decided to exit by 2025; the operators recently emphasized that the Doel and Tihange nuclear power plants could no longer run. The former German Federal Environment Minister also criticized these nuclear power plants.

Spain has agreed with the nuclear power plant operators to phase out. France, which is in favor of nuclear power, originally wanted to reduce its share of nuclear energy in the electricity supply. Recently, however, President Emmanuel Macron announced the construction of new nuclear power plants. The EU Commission will probably have decided next year whether nuclear power should be counted among the climate-friendly investments.


(anw)

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