The Federal Government has sent its opinion on the EU Commission’s proposal for the Taxonomy Regulation to Brussels and published it. In it, she points out, among other things, the lack of safety requirements for nuclear power, that this type of energy production is too expensive and too risky, and that nuclear waste disposal has not been clarified. The inclusion of nuclear energy is not compatible with the requirements of the regulation, so she also sees legal concerns.
The planned taxonomy regulation is about an EU-wide system for the classification of financial products, which should give investors orientation and steer capital into the green conversion of energy production and the economy. In a second delegated act, for which a proposal has been available since New Year’s Eve, the EU Commission intends to include nuclear power and natural gas in the taxonomy. The EU member states had until midnight to comment, in Germany it is reported that the issue of natural gas was being worked on until the very end.
“The federal government fundamentally supports the efforts of the European Union for a sustainable financial economy,” says the statement of the federal government (PDF), and immediately begins with her objections: “From the point of view of the federal government, nuclear energy is not sustainable. That is why we reject inclusion in Strongly rejects the delegated act under the Taxonomy Regulation.”
residual risk
Serious accidents with large-scale, cross-border and long-term hazards for people and the environment cannot be ruled out. Nuclear energy is expensive, the question of final storage has not been solved. The longer nuclear power plants run, the greater the problem of nuclear waste. “This situation cannot be cured even by the requirement of the draft delegated act that national plans for the operation of such a repository must be available by 2050,” says the statement. The EU Commission does not deal with the fact that incidents and accidents or even terrorist attacks can also occur in the interim storage of radioactive waste.
The draft also includes continuing to operate existing nuclear power plants and extending their lifespan. Most of the nuclear power plants currently in operation in the EU are over 30 years old and were originally designed to operate for 30 to 40 years. However, safety upgrades are only possible to a limited extent. “Aging and embrittlement of materials with service lives beyond the design service life are also raising increasing questions,” says the federal government.
Renewable energies also require flexible systems that can be started up or shut down quickly, something that nuclear power cannot do, the statement said. In the short term it is not possible with the construction of new nuclear power plants, especially on the CO2– to phase out the intensive energy source coal, as approval and construction processes usually took decades. “It is not clear to the federal government how a nuclear power plant built after 2035 could contribute to achieving the 2050 EU climate goals given the usual construction and approval times”.
Also SMR not sustainable
New reactor concepts such as Small Modular Reactors (SMR) are not fully developed, cause problems similar to those of conventional nuclear power plants and therefore cannot be classified as sustainable. “From the Federal Government’s point of view, this also gives rise to legal concerns about the Delegated Act, since it is doubtful whether the inclusion of nuclear energy is compatible with the specifications of the Taxonomy Ordinance,” writes the Federal Government.
If the risk costs – without state liability – were considered realistically, no private money would be invested in nuclear power, says the federal government. Strict requirements are defined in the draft regulation for natural gas as a transitional technology and, for example, technical progress is required. In contrast, the current state of the art and the applicable legal situation are sufficient for nuclear energy. There are no requirements for protection against terrorist attacks or for a specific end date for a decision on a repository with verifiable intermediate steps.
From natural gas to hydrogen
The use of natural gas is also not sustainable in the long term, “however, for the federal government, fossil gas fuel in ultra-modern and efficient gas-fired power plants forms a bridge for a limited transitional period – until the conversion to an energy sector based on renewable energies – to enable the rapid phase-out of coal and thus in the short term CO2– to achieve savings and to accompany the ramp-up of renewable energies,” says the statement.
This is in line with the climate goals. With gas power plants that are prepared for hydrogen and can therefore be operated entirely with renewable hydrogen, it is possible to switch to sustainable energy production with renewable energy sources in the short term. The necessary investments would have to be initiated immediately. Against the background of security of supply, it is crucial “that the development of a gas energy supply based on renewable raw materials is made possible by ultra-modern and efficient gas-fired power plants under strict but realistically achievable criteria”.
At least eleven member states, including France, Poland and Hungary, expressly support the EU Commission’s proposal, dpa found out. Austria, Spain and Denmark reject the planned classifications. Austria and Luxembourg are considering taking legal action. The EU Parliament also has the opportunity to comment, and the Chairmen of the Economic and Environmental Committees have asked the EU Commission to involve the public in a consultation.
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