Greens vote for the reserve: Habeck can be tied up in the nuclear power plant dispute

At the federal party conference of the Greens, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck got the backing for sending two nuclear power plants into the operational reserve. But: After the party congress decision, he and the parliamentary group no longer have any room to approach the demands of the FDP in any way.

At their federal party conference in Bonn, the Greens approved the emergency use of two nuclear power plants beyond the current year. An emergency motion by the party leadership on the so-called operational reserve of the Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 nuclear power plants, which Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck also supported, received broad approval after intensive debate. Nevertheless, the plan is more shaky than ever. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, the Federal Government needs to make a quick decision so that the operators can prepare the operational reserve. But the FDP has so far refused to give their consent. After their disastrous election result in Lower Saxony, the Liberals reiterated their demand for extended operation of all three nuclear power plants still in operation, including Emsland.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Friday that he wanted to reach an agreement by the beginning of the week. A conversation and a phone call between the Chancellor, Habeck and FDP leader Christian Lindner remained fruitless. Party leader Ricarda Lang accused the FDP of rejecting an agreement that had already been reached within the federal government for reasons of profiling. “Now the FDP is standing up and questioning that, now is not the time for party games,” said Lang. “New fuel rods, a return to nuclear power: that will not happen with us.”

Trittin makes his mark

The emergency motion was modified late in the afternoon and a number of amendments proposed by party veteran and former Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin, who had particular difficulties with Habeck’s concept of the operational reserve, were adopted. Trittin would have liked to stick to the planned phase-out of nuclear power at the turn of the year. The clarifications he introduced put Habeck and the Greens group in tight shackles: The application rules out the continued use of the Emsland nuclear power plant beyond New Year’s Eve. For the two southern German nuclear power plants, the text stipulates that dismantling should begin on April 15, 2024. Furthermore, the operational reserve should only be activated under narrowly defined conditions and with the involvement of the Bundestag.

It’s hard to imagine that Habeck and the parliamentary group would ignore such a party conference decision. It remains to be seen how an agreement that saves face for all coalition partners is to be reached. The Greens clearly found it difficult to agree to this very limited operational reserve. Habeck, in particular, responded to this skeptic when he assured that a re-entry “will definitely not happen to us”.

Habeck admitted that the assumed stress scenarios lacked 4 to 8 gigawatts of electricity, with the two southern German nuclear power plants only contributing 0.5 gigawatts. “They don’t solve the problem,” Habeck said. But it is important to use all possibilities in an emergency. Trittin also declared the emergency reserve to be useful. “We have belts on, we have braces on and we’re hanging another pair of braces in the closet,” explained Trittin. In addition to Putin’s war of aggression, he blamed France in particular for the energy problems: “The whole of Europe has to produce electricity like crazy to supply France.”

“An impertinence”

“What the federal board has presented is an impertinence, including for me,” said Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke. You still advertise for approval, because the times expected a lot from everyone. “It is of course completely absurd that two German nuclear power plants could be in demand because half of the French nuclear power plant park has been shut down.”

Lemke warned that the periodic safety check, which has been overdue for three years, cannot be postponed further and further. Union and FDP accused Lemke of “populism” and “playing down” the risks of nuclear power. They are also not safe from military attacks. “How can you seriously demand new fuel elements that would produce high-level radioactive waste again when we don’t even know what to do with the tons of high-level radioactive waste that is already there?” Lemke warned of a covert agenda to enforce Germany’s return to nuclear power. The Greens would prevent that.

However, a failed counter-motion from the party base demanded that the nuclear phase-out at the turn of the year be adhered to. “Who can guarantee that we won’t overturn April 15?” asked a delegate named Karl-Wilhelm Koch. The applause was polite. A majority did not convince Koch. In doing so, the Greens cleared the way for the operational reserve – under the conditions they had narrowly defined.

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