Nuclear power plant Neckarwestheim: Goes off the grid as one of the last reactors by December 31 at the latest
Photo: Norbert Försterling/ dpa
According to the German nuclear companies, the bottlenecks in gas and coal imports feared because of Russia's war in Ukraine can hardly be quickly compensated for by longer operating times of the nuclear power plants.
A spokeswoman for PreussenElektra, an Eon subsidiary, pointed out that new fuel rods would take a long time to be delivered.
"After an initial estimate, we assume that fresh fuel elements could be available in a good 1.5 years," said the spokeswoman for the "Rheinische Post".
In addition, the companies would then probably have to look for new uranium suppliers.
»In the last few years of operation of our power plants, we obtained the uranium required for the fuel elements from Kazakhstan and Russia and in small quantities from Canada.«
Hard coal also mostly comes from Russia
Before a meeting of federal and state energy ministers this Tuesday, the RWE spokeswoman told the newspaper: "In the end, it's up to politicians to decide on a possible extension of the nuclear power plants' operating lives.
However, the regulatory and technical hurdles for an extension would be very high.« The accelerated phase-out of nuclear power was passed by law in 2011.
According to the Atomic Energy Act, the Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 power plants will be the last reactors to be shut down by December 31 at the latest.
Russia supplies more than 50 percent of the natural gas consumed in Germany - and the share of Russian hard coal in electricity generation in Germany is around 50 percent.
In individual power plants in Germany, up to 75 percent Russian hard coal is currently being burned.
Shortly after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, Energy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) declared that longer running times for coal or nuclear power plants were unsuitable for compensating for supply bottlenecks by cutting Russian deliveries.
In order to secure the energy supply, however, Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had called for the lifetimes of nuclear power plants to be extended by several years.
You can read a detailed analysis of the question here:
Moscow threatens to stop gas supplies
The Kremlin openly showed this week that Russia wants to use its supplies in the energy sector as a lever: Because of the sanctions, it has openly threatened for the first time to stop gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
"We have every right to make a »mirror-fair« decision and to issue an embargo on the transit of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which is currently being used at a maximum of 100 percent," said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in a speech broadcast on state television.
He made the statement with a view to the stopped Nord Stream 2 line, which Russia is aiming to put into operation, but whose approval process was recently interrupted by Germany in response to the Ukraine war.
“We're not making that decision yet.
Nobody wins," Nowak said.
However, Russia now sees itself pushed in this direction by European politicians and their accusations.
ok/dpa
