Electricity

End of nuclear era in Germany

Photo: EnBW

Published

April 13, 2023

Country

Comments

comments icon

1

Share

Published:

April 13, 2023

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

1

Share

Germany is abandoning nuclear power – this week, the country will take the remaining three plants off the grid. The government has decided not to extend their operation any longer. Initially, it was supposed to switch off the reactors at the end of last year. However, two-thirds of the population oppose the shutdown of the last nuclear power plants.

April 15 will mark the end of the nuclear energy era in Germany, which began more than 60 years ago. The European energy crisis has prompted an extension of the operation of the remaining nuclear power plants to maintain the security of supply.

Proponents of the technology argue that abandoning nuclear power is premature and claim it would exacerbate challenges for energy security and the efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The lifespan of the remaining reactors was supposed to end at the end of 2022, but the government decided to shut them down three and a half months later.

Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 are located in the southern part of the country, and the Emsland nuclear power plant is in the north.

Divided views on the closure of power plants

The decommissioning of nuclear power became a central political topic during the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Part of the opposition led by the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) advocated another extension. There was also a heated debate between the Party of Free Democrats (FDP) and the Alliance of 90/Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), minority partners in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Only 26% of citizens fully support the total rejection of nuclear energy

However, in a YouGov poll, about two-thirds of respondents said they were against the impending closure of the remaining three nuclear power plants. About a third of the participants stated they should continue operating for a while, while another third was for an unlimited extension. Just 26% of citizens fully supported a complete abandonment of nuclear power.

The following steps are to disassemble the reactor and dispose of nuclear waste

In 2000, the government decided to phase out nuclear energy. Now it will take several decades to bring the process to a close. Authorities must facilitate the dismantling of around 30 plants and find long-term solutions for storing radioactive waste. The government acknowledged it would be a big challenge.

Authorities must facilitate the dismantling of around 30 nuclear plants

The pace of nuclear phaseout accelerated in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Activists have begun revolting against nuclear power already in the 1970s. The movement gave birth to the Greens’ party.

Comments (1)
H Safa / April 19, 2023

Congratulations

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

serbia cbam carbon pricing jovana joksimovic

Joksimović: Serbia preparing to introduce carbon pricing

17 June 2025 - The Ministry of Mining and Energy has carried out an assessment of the impact of the EU regulation on Serbia’s electricity sector.

bih stolac solar park tibra pacific aiko china hodovo

64 MW Stolac Solarni Park PV plant in BiH begins power generation

16 June 2025 - "We are proud to announce the successful grid connection of the Stolac Solarni Park photovoltaic plant in BiH," China’s AIKO said

montenegro epcg net conference budva milutin djukanovic

Đukanović: EPCG is implementing three key strategic policies

16 June 2025 - At the opening of the EPCG NET conference in Budva, Miliutin Đukanović announced the start of trial operations at the Gvozd wind farm

serbia naled CBAM analysis jobs

NALED urges action to protect jobs at energy-intensive industries threatened by CBAM

13 June 2025 - The National Alliance for Local Economic Development has called on the state to introduce measures to protect energy-intensive industries