It is a decision that goes against the direction of history: after the Fukushima disaster in 2011, former Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to permanently close the German nuclear fleet. The power plants had gradually closed, the last three to be closed by the end of this year 2022. The energy crisis got the better of the timetable and the commitments of the current government, which still claims to want to get out of nuclear power… but not right away.
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Of the last three nuclear power plants, which still provide 6% of the electricity produced in the country, only one will be closed and the other two simply put on hold until April. Isar 2 (near Munich) and Neckarwestheim 2 (in Baden-Württemberg) can be reactivated if the winter is too harsh and shortages threaten.
It is a failure for government ecologists, especially for the Minister of Economy and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, who – two weeks ago – assured that extending the life of nuclear power plants was completely excluded.
Nuclear: Germany leaves two power plants on standby until spring out of solidarity with France faced with failures in its nuclear fleet. Habeck does not want to play selfish in Europe. https://t.co/Wnxb9ENgHH
— Christophe Bourdoiseau (@chbourdoiseau) September 6, 2022
Moscow’s curb on gas deliveries leaves it no choice. “It is a debate that traditionally makes waves in Germany, which arouses a lot of emotions”, he admitted to the press. Here he is eating his hat … just like his partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which must also do an about-face.
The decision is however not surprising, the pressures rising from all sides: “Dear environmentalists, retrace your steps. No thought restrictions! Do it for Germany”wrote the leader of the opposition, the conservative Friedrich Merz, in an op-ed for the German daily Picture. Chancellor Olaf Sholz had also begun to prepare the ground. Even German public opinion has changed. In a survey carried out at the end of June by the ARD, 61% of those questioned said they were in favor of this measure.
It is also a question of European solidarity: in the same way that France undertakes to deliver more gas to Germany, Berlin could in return supply electricity to France.
Despite everything, the ruling coalition is weakened by this decision. The liberals of the FDP believe that the measures do not go far enough. They wanted to keep not two but three plants in reserve; and not until 2023 but 2024 to limit the use of gas – both too rare and too expensive – and especially coal – too polluting.
Coal, too, started again: the power plants were to close in 2022 and 2023 but 27 sites were authorized to resume production – for a limited period, until March 2024.
In Germany, the laborious reopening of coal-fired power plants #AFP
➡️ https://t.co/YGowwQZP7D
✍️ @CazeresFlorian pic.twitter.com/Jhgf3RFKcp– Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) August 30, 2022
Berlin has even adopted a decree which, since the end of August, gives priority to rail convoys delivering coal. In the event of tension, the passenger trains must therefore wait and let the wagons intended for the power stations pass. The return of coal is a bitter decision, but “inevitable“: Even environmental protection groups like Greenpeace recognize that this is the only way to break free from Putin’s gas addiction.
On the nuclear issue, on the other hand, they promise legal action against the government. On July 19, the association Environmental Action Germany (DUH) declared in a press release: “If the extension of the operation of the nuclear power plants were to take place beyond December 31, 2022, we will put an end to it by legal means if necessary.”
Germany is not the only country to reassess its position on nuclear energy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine: in late August, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced “a thought“on the possible construction of”next-generation nuclear reactors, with new safety mechanisms“.