BERLIN, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany switched off its last three nuclear reactors on Saturday, exiting atomic power even as it seeks to wean itself off fossil fuels and manage an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
While many Western countries are upping their investments in atomic energy to reduce their emissions, Germany is bringing an early end to its nuclear age.
Europe’s largest economy has been looking to leave behind nuclear power since 2002, but the phase-out was accelerated by former chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
The exit decision was popular in a country with a powerful anti-nuclear movement, stoked by lingering fears of Cold War conflict and atomic disasters such as Chornobyl in Ukraine.
“The risks of nuclear power are ultimately unmanageable,” said Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, who this week made a pilgrimage to the ill-fated Japanese plant ahead of a G7 meeting in the country.
But the challenge caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which put an end to cheap gas imports, and the need to quickly cut emissions has upped calls in Germany to delay the withdrawal from nuclear power.
Greenpeace, at the heart of the anti-nuclear movement, organised a celebratory fete at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to mark the occasion.
“Finally, nuclear energy belongs to history! Let’s make this Apr 15 a day to remember,” the organisation said.
Initially planned for the end of 2022, Germany’s nuclear exit had already been pushed back once.
As Russian gas supplies dwindled last year, officials in Berlin were left scrambling to find a way to keep the lights on, with a short extension agreed until mid-April.
Germany, the largest emitter in the European Union, also powered up some of its mothballed coal-fuelled plants to cover the potential gap left by gas.
The challenging energy situation had increased calls domestically for the exit from nuclear to be delayed.
At the Isar 2 complex in Bavaria, technicians will progressively shut down the reactor from 10pm local time on Saturday, severing it from the grid for good.
By the end of the day, operators at the other two facilities, in northern Emsland and southwestern Neckarwestheim, will have taken their facilities offline as well.
The three final plants provided just 6 per cent of Germany’s energy last year, compared with 30.8 per cent from all nuclear plants in 1997.
“Sooner or later” the reactors will start being dismantled, Economy Minister Robert Habeck told the Funke group ahead of the scheduled decommissioning, brushing aside the idea of an extension.
The government has the energy situation “under control”, Habeck assured, having filled gas stores and built new infrastructure for the import of liquefied natural gas to bridge the gap left by Russian supplies.
Instead, the minister from the Green party, which was founded on opposition to nuclear power, is focused on getting Germany to produce 80 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2030.
To this end, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for the installation of “four to five wind turbines a day” over the next few years – a tall order given that just 551 were installed last year.
But the current rate of progress on renewables could well be too slow for Germany to meet its climate protection goals. — NNN-AGENCIES
