Germany's nuclear power against Putin's war?

Longer term required - traffic light panning at coal-fired power plants

Created: 03/24/2022, 13:18

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

In view of the Ukraine war, discussions about the planned shutdown of nuclear power plants in Germany flare up again.

© Armin Weigel/dpa

The Ukraine war leads to concerns about Germany's energy supply.

The planned shutdown of the nuclear power plants is therefore criticized.

Munich - The Ukraine conflict is currently clearly at the center of political events.

Russia is stepping up attacks on Ukraine and trying to advance on various fronts.

This map shows where the Ukraine war is raging.

The conflict is primarily moving to the fore from a military point of view.

Against the background of the Ukraine crisis, however, there is another aspect of the war's relevance: the energy supply.

Russia is one of the most important energy suppliers for Europe and thus the heart of securing the energy supply.

However, dependency on the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin has now proved fatal for western countries.

The German energy supply is also at stake.

A diversification of suppliers and sources could help, but precisely in this phase, in which the search for alternatives is ongoing, the German nuclear power plants are to be shut down.

The project has been criticized.

Germany's energy supply is in danger - nevertheless, nuclear reactors are planned to be shut down

At the end of 2021, Germany shut down three nuclear power plants.

By the end of 2022, the last three reactors, which currently carry around 6 percent of electricity production, are to be shut down.

With the planned shutdown by the end of 2022, Berlin is not moving in the same direction as many European partners.

France and the Netherlands as well as Belgium and Great Britain want to build more nuclear power plants in order to become more independent.

In view of the current situation, several European countries are therefore trying to make a comeback to nuclear power, Germany will already lose an energy source by the end of this year.

At the end of February, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had an extension of the lifetime of nuclear power plants examined.

However, this test was negative and plans to phase out nuclear power continued.

However, the industry does not agree with this.

In an open letter, the association "Kerntechnik Deutschland eV" appealed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) not to shut down the nuclear power plants.

Professor Jörg Starflinger from the Institute for Nuclear Energy and Energy Systems at the University of Stuttgart spoke to the

in favor of continued operation : "The systems are capable of supplying electricity reliably for several years to come.

Technically nothing speaks against it.

Our nuclear power plants are in very good shape.”

Germany's energy supply: Union criticizes traffic light plan for nuclear power plants - "It gets cold and expensive in winter"

In politics, the federal government's plans to shut down nuclear power plants are leading to a heated debate.

There has been criticism of the project, especially from the Union, including from the CSU boss and Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder.

“Without nuclear power, it will be cold and expensive next winter.

Nuclear power is needed as a bridge for at least 3 more years,” he wrote on Twitter.

There must be "an end to exits of all kinds", because then the energy price would become a poverty trap and a disadvantage for the location.

"That would be pure green ideology," he criticized.

Söder received support from the Union's economic wing.

Group colleagues Gitta Connemann and Jana Schminke pleaded with the

for a resumption of operation of the power plants that were shut down at the end of 2021.

"Independence from the warmonger Putin and climate protection must not be played off against each other," Connemann demanded.

"Six piles are better and safer for the power supply than three," said von Schminke.

But not only from the Union, but also within the traffic light coalition, there are gradually doubts about the planned shutdown.

Schleswig-Holstein's FDP parliamentary group leader Christopher Vogt, for example, called on Minister of Economics Habeck to carry out a serious examination of "whether the three remaining nuclear power plants and those that were only recently taken off the grid, such as Brokdorf, can continue to be used temporarily".

Germany's Energy Supply: Nuclear Power Plant Shutdown Amid Search for Alternatives to Putin Gas

Although Vogt demands that the continued use of the nuclear power plants be considered, FDP leader and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner does not share the same opinion as his party colleague.

He stated that extending the lifetime of nuclear power plants would be difficult to implement.

In search of energy alternatives in the middle of the Ukraine war, Lindner's cabinet colleague Habeck traveled to Qatar, where he caused violent reactions with a photo and was insulted as a "Kückling".

For many, it makes no sense that an important source of energy is now being lost with the shutdown of nuclear power plants.

"In this world situation, our country simply cannot afford the luxury of doing without electricity from the last German reactors," wrote

editor-in-chief Georg Anastasiadis and asked with reference to the extension of the operating times of nuclear power plants: "What is she waiting for? traffic light still?"

After all, the coalition is now taking the first steps, at least for coal-fired power plants, and wants to “suspend” their decommissioning.

"We want to reduce gas consumption in power generation in the short term by keeping coal-fired power plants on standby for longer, if possible," says a result paper by the coalition committee.

The decommissioning of coal-fired power plants can therefore be “suspended until further notice after review by the Federal Network Agency”.

However, the coalition is sticking to the goal of phasing out coal “ideally by 2030”.