Lemke regrets longer reactor operating times in Belgium

Created: 03/19/2022Updated: 03/19/2022, 17:10

Steffi Lemke (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Federal Environment Minister, gives a press conference.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/archive image

Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke regretted the planned extension of the service life of two nuclear reactors in Belgium and confirmed the general move away from nuclear energy in Germany.

Of course, you assume that Belgium will initiate a cross-border environmental impact assessment for the Meiler Tihange 3 and Doel 4 at an early stage, the Greens politician told the German Press Agency on Saturday.

Berlin - It is also important to take the concerns of the population in the border region around Aachen seriously.

For Germany, the arguments for and against the question of a nuclear power plant lifetime extension have been weighed up thoroughly in the past few weeks, said Lemke.

“The result was clear: a small contribution to the energy supply would be opposed to major economic, legal and safety risks.

That would be neither sensible nor justifiable.”

The minister emphasized: "Especially in a time of crisis like this, I do not consider an extension of the service life to be justifiable for safety reasons.

It can even make us more vulnerable.” The great global concern about the safety of nuclear power plants in Ukraine makes everyone aware of the potential extent of damage from nuclear power plants.

“We are in a situation where we have to make our energy supply crisis-proof very quickly.

We are doing this by accelerating the expansion of renewable energies.”

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With regard to Belgium, Lemke explained that she was relieved that at least the five oldest units of the Tihange and Doel nuclear power plants would finally be shut down by 2025.

"On the other hand, I regret the Belgian government's decision to let two of its seven reactors run for a further ten years beyond the planned service life of 2025, until 2035." The EU member states are of course sovereign over their national energy policies, Lemke added.

On Friday evening, the Belgian government announced that block 3 of the Tihange nuclear power plant near the German border and block 4 of the Doel power plant near Antwerp would be allowed to run for ten more years.

By postponing the nuclear phase-out, Belgium wants to ensure its energy security, also in view of the Ukraine war and the recent sharp rise in energy prices.

The planned extension of the service life still has to be negotiated with the operator Engie.

dpa