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The Brokdorf nuclear power plant in Schleswig-Holstein, which was shut down at the end of 2021: According to the TÜV, it could be back on the grid at short notice
Photo: Chris Emil Janssen / IMAGO
The Greens in the federal government are finding it difficult to extend the operating times for the nuclear power plants that are still connected to the grid in Germany.
According to the TÜV, there is even more potential in nuclear energy to relieve the currently tense situation in the energy supply in Germany.
A restart of the nuclear power plants (NPP) Brokdorf in Schleswig-Holstein, Grohnde in Lower Saxony and Gundremmingen C in Bavaria, which were shut down at the end of 2021, is technically feasible and harmless, said Joachim Bühler, executive board member of the TÜV association, the "Bild" newspaper.
»We are convinced that the three power plants are in a state of safety that would make it possible to connect them to the grid again.«
The background to the debate is the throttling of gas supplies from Russia to Germany.
Natural gas is mainly used for heating.
But it also contributes around ten percent to electricity production in Germany.
If you were to rely on nuclear energy for longer, you could use more gas for heating.
»These plants are among the safest and technically best power plants in the world.
They were and are in excellent condition," Bühler told the newspaper.
The re-commissioning of the reactors that have been shut down would be "not a question of years, but rather of a few months or weeks".
Six nuclear power plants could produce electricity by 2026
A report by TÜV Süd had previously declared continued operation of the Isar 2 pile in Bavaria to be feasible.
Along with Neckarwestheim in Baden-Württemberg and Emsland in Lower Saxony, it is one of the three German nuclear power plants that are still active.
According to current law, they must be switched off by December 31, 2022 at the latest.
However, politicians are discussing a »stretching operation« of the piles, according to a government spokeswoman, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is waiting for the results of an ongoing stress test on the security of the power supply.
How quickly the power plants that have already been shut down can be connected to the grid again is "above all a question of political will," said TÜV boss Bühler.
It would be possible to extend the term of the three nuclear power plants that were shut down in 2021, but also the three active ones, by up to three years.
In the event of a restart and an extension of the service life, six nuclear power plants in Germany could produce electricity by 2026.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck recently did not rule out at least the continued operation of the three remaining nuclear power plants beyond the end of the year under certain conditions.
The so-called stress test could result in a “special scenario”, said the Green politician on the “RTL Aktuell” program.
»The relevant question that needs to be asked is whether the stability of the power grid needs to be secured through further measures this year.«
FDP demands nuclear summit in the chancellery
The Green Youth, on the other hand, calls the current discussion about extending the service life a “dangerous mock debate”.
It does not help in the current situation, said federal spokesman Timon Dzienus.
It is true that it is important to wait for the stress test that is currently running, says Dzienus, "but the basic rule is that we cannot extend the term."
Among other things, he referred to the risks of the technology.
The Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB), on the other hand, is demanding that the remaining nuclear power plants continue to operate temporarily because of the impending energy bottlenecks.
General Manager Gerd Landsberg spoke in the »Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung« for a »short-term, limited further use of nuclear power in Germany«.
With a view to the next winter and possibly the one after that, "all European potential in the energy industry" would have to be activated, said Landsberg.
Meanwhile, the FDP is calling for a nuclear summit in the Chancellery.
The energy policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Michael Kruse, who spoke out in favor of extending the service life until spring 2024, told the Tagesspiegel: "The federal government should in a nuclear energy summit with the operators and industry associations.«
Apr/Reuters/dpa/AFP