Germany shuts down its last nuclear power stations

Jens Thurau
DW
Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:00 UTC

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German Nuclear reactor facility

Germany is about to shut down its last three nuclear reactors. For the country's Green Party, it's a long-held dream come true. Meanwhile in Asia, nuclear power is experiencing a renaissance, despite Fukushima.

At the end of March, Germany's Environment Minister Steffi Lemke of the Green Party used just a few words to put an end to the dispute that has kept the country in suspense for years:

"The risks of nuclear power are ultimately uncontrollable; that's why the nuclear phase-out makes our country safer, and avoids more nuclear waste."

Nuclear power extended to April 15

Last year, the government found itself once again caught up in a dispute over nuclear power. In their coalition agreement, the governing SPD, Greens, and the FDP had agreed to stick to Germany's nuclear phase-out, which was decided under Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011. Accordingly, the last nuclear power plants were to close at the end of 2022.

But Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed everything, because Russian gas supplies to Germany stopped and the government feared an energy shortage. Chancellor Olaf Scholz finally decided to extend the operating period of the power stations until April 15, 2023.

Environment Minister Steffi Lemke: Germany would be nuclear-free by mid-April

A decades-long dispute

Few disputes have polarized people, especially in the former West Germany, for as many decades as the one over nuclear power. On June 17, 1961, a German nuclear power plant supplied electricity to the grid for the first time, at Kahl in Bavaria.

Some 22,596 days and plenty of heated debate later, the last three German nuclear power plants still in operation will finally be shut down on April 15.

Altogether, 19 nuclear power plant units supplied up to a third of the country's electricity, though the last time this happened was about 20 years ago. In the 1970s and 1980s in West Germany, before German unification, opposition to nuclear power brought hundreds of thousands of mostly young people out onto the streets. Then in 1986, the Chernobyl disaster in the then-Soviet Union appeared to confirm warnings about the dangers of nuclear power. But the various governing parties - the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), the SPD, and the FDP - stood firmly behind the use of nuclear power for many decades.

Nuclear power in Europe

Other European countries were quicker to phase out nuclear power. Sweden was the forerunner, ending nuclear power shortly after Chernobyl, as was Italy, which also decided to close its last two nuclear power plants following the disaster. In Italy, the decision remained in force; in Sweden, the phase-out was reversed in 1996. Today, six nuclear power plants there produce around 30% of the country's electricity needs.

Other European countries, such as the Netherlands and Poland plan to expand their nuclear power systems, while Belgium is postponing its planned phase-out. With 57 reactors, France has always been Europe's leading nuclear power country, and it intends to stay that way. All in all, 13 of 27 EU countries intend using nuclear power in the coming years, with a number expanding their capacities.

First German phase-out in 2002

In 2002, Germany's then Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin, also of the Green Party, pushed through the country's first plan to phase out nuclear power. This was then softened by subsequent governments, but the horrific reactor disaster at Fukushima in Japan in 2011 finally sealed the fate of German nuclear power plants. The chancellor at the time, Angela Merkel (CDU), decided: That was it for nuclear energy in Germany.

Today, Trittin is still a member of the Bundestag for the Green Party.

"Yes, this is an important day, because it brings a story to an end, namely that of the civilian use of nuclear energy. But it's not the end of nuclear energy in Germany, we're still dealing with the fact that we'll have to safely store the world's most dangerous waste for a million years."

Arguments for nuclear energy

But is this really it for nuclear energy in Germany? KernD, an association representing the interests of nuclear technology in Germany, told DW that ending nuclear power was not a good idea, in view of an energy crisis that it says has been suppressed, rather than resolved.

A KernD spokesperson said:

"Also, in view of climate policy and the very unfavorable development in electricity generation last year — due to a sharp increase in coal-fired power generation — the shutdown of three functioning nuclear power plants with a low greenhouse gas footprint beggars belief. Considering security of supply, environmental and climate protection, as well as competitiveness, more nuclear power would make more sense than none at all."

Nuclear power around the world

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there are currently 422 nuclear reactors in operation worldwide, with an average age of about 31 years.

But a recent IAEA report said there was no indication that nuclear was experiencing a renaissance: Nuclear power generation peaked at 17.5% in 1996, and fell below 10% in 2021 — the lowest in four decades.

And Jürgen Trittin notes that no one wants to invest in nuclear power on a large scale "because nuclear power is not competitive." Building new nuclear power plants is very expensive, often having to be co-financed by public money, and often plagued by delays and local resistance to new projects.

Asia expands its nuclear capacity

Nevertheless, China, Russia and India in particular are all planning to build new nuclear power plants. China, where there is virtually no civil society to fight new projects, wants to build another 47 plants. China already produces more nuclear power than France.

It is often argued that expanding nuclear power production protects the climate because it emits hardly any carbon dioxide. Even Japan wants to return to more nuclear power, despite the 2001 earthquake that caused several nuclear reactors to rupture in succession, forcing the initial closure of several nuclear power plants.

Since then, however, some reactors have been brought back online. Now the Japanese government has decided: The resource-poor country wants to build new reactors and let its old ones run for up to 70 years. "We must make full use of nuclear energy," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared recently, as if it were his motto. Surveys show that, despite a long period of resistance, support among the Japanese population is gradually increasing.

About the Author:
Jens Thurau is a senior political correspondent covering Germany's environment and climate policies.

Comment: Energy crisis? Shutter the power source!

Germany finally pulled the plug on its final three nuclear power plants Saturday, amid an energy crisis ravaging Europe.

As of midnight, Germany's smoking towers of Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2, and Emsland have been closed. They comprised roughly 4,055 megawatts or 6% of Germany's total energy generation, forcing Berlin to hunt for alternatives as energy costs remain high across much of Europe.

Although there has only been one confirmed death tied to radiation from the Fukushima incident, radioactive contamination unleashed by the meltdown spooked the international community.

"The position of the German government is clear: nuclear power is not green. Nor is it sustainable," Steffi Lemke, Germany's federal minister for the environment and consumer protection, told CNN.

Other European nations have begun ramping up nuclear power exposure as a fossil fuel alternative, including France, which generates more than 70% of its power from nuclear. Some polls have found that public opinion on nuclear power has softened within Germany.

Meanwhile, Germany's coal burning soared to the highest rate in nearly six years, according to data from the site Electricity Maps.

Without reliable power sources, humanity is not 'sustainable'. That would be the plan.