Nuclear power as a "green" energy source?

Federal government reacts with a clear statement on the EU plan

Created: 01/22/2022, 09:56

Nuclear power as green energy?

That is what the EU Commission is planning.

But experts oppose this idea.

© Stefan Puchner/dpa

Nuclear power as a sustainable energy source?

The federal government positions itself in a statement.

Also for natural gas.

Berlin/Brussels: According to a report, the Federal Government clearly rejected classifying nuclear power as a sustainable energy source in its statement to the EU Commission. As the

reported on Friday evening, citing the opinion it had on the so-called EU taxonomy, Berlin supports a corresponding classification of natural gas as a so-called bridging technology.

The deadline for submitting comments expired at midnight.

The federal government fought until the very end to classify fossil gas as “sustainable”.

The Greens in particular had repeatedly rejected this.

On the other hand, there was early agreement in the federal government on the classification of nuclear energy.

"From the point of view of the federal government, nuclear energy is not sustainable," says the

in the statement.

Serious accidents endangering people and the environment cannot be ruled out.

"Nuclear energy is expensive and the issue of final storage has not been resolved," it said.

Nuclear power as a "green" energy source?

Federal government reacts with a clear statement on the EU plan

According to the newspaper, the fossil fuel "forms a bridge in state-of-the-art and efficient gas-fired power plants for a limited transition period - until the transition to an energy sector based on renewable energies - to enable the rapid phase-out of coal and to achieve CO2 savings in the short term and to accompany the ramp-up of renewable energies".

A specific date for the conversion of the power plants to hydrogen-generated gas is not mentioned in the statement. Rather, it is said that the decisive factor for the classification as a transitional technology is that the gas-fired power plants support the rapid conversion to renewable energies and the reduction of emissions in the energy sector as a whole. The draft sent out by the EU Commission* on New Year's Eve states that investments in the latest generation of nuclear power plants can be classified as sustainable if there is also a plan for storing the radioactive waste. Gas-fired power plants are also to be given the seal of approval on a transitional basis, subject to certain conditions.

Regardless of the content of the German statement, it is questionable whether the federal government can stop the EU plans.

So far, only a few EU countries have publicly opposed the classification of nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable.

Austria and Luxembourg have announced legal action to prevent nuclear power from being included in the list of green investments.