It’s been fixed since Wednesday: The EU Commission has given nuclear power a green badge, financial investments in nuclear power are now considered sustainable. This decision also triggers great outrage in Styrian state politics and across almost all parties.
In addition to energy from nuclear power plants, investments in gas power plants also receive a “green label”. Austria announces resistance up to and including lawsuits at European level – but the chances of success are likely to be low. “The decision is a step backwards into the Stone Age of energy production. We all know from past catastrophes how dangerous nuclear power generation is. It sends the completely wrong signal that nuclear energy can be called ‘green’ in the future,” say Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer (ÖVP) and his deputy Anton Lang (SPÖ) in a joint broadcast. They also refer to the Styrian fight against continued operation or Expansion of the Slovenian nuclear power plant in Krško: “We would like the EU to fight together against the expansion of nuclear power plants, instead of opening the door to the proponents for the future.” completely in the wrong direction” says Ursula Lackner, Minister for the Environment. “Nuclear power is not an alternative to counteract the climate crisis. The risks in power plant operation, but also problems with final storage, disqualify them.” Nuclear power is not only dangerous, but also expensive, CO₂-free electricity from the sun, wind and water can be generated cheaper. FPÖ MP sees “Green Deal” failedCritical comments The Liberal MEP Georg Mayer (the so-called taxonomy regulation also has to be passed by the EU Parliament, by the way): The Commission simply ignored all the warnings from experts and the concerns of the citizens. “There are reactors that are ready for scrap on Austria’s doorstep, such as the notorious Temelin nuclear plant in the Czech Republic or the Krško nuclear plant in Slovenia, which repeatedly make a name for itself with failures or technical breakdowns. It remains to be seen whether the classification that has now been made will also have an impact on these scrap heaps.” For Mayer, the EU’s “Green Deal” has now failed. “Even before the Paris climate agreement was signed, we warned that the nuclear industry was lobbying there massively. We were not taken seriously.” The Greens support “their” minister. The Greens’ head of the state parliament, Sandra Krautwaschl, is fully in line with party colleague Leonore Gewessler: “Classifying the extraction, transport and combustion of natural gas as sustainable is not only absurd, but also one environmental and climate policy dead end. In addition, creating an incentive for the financing of ailing nuclear power plants – keyword Krško – is also a misguided waste of money under the guise of climate protection.”
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