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Emsland nuclear power plant in Lingen (photo from July 27)
Photo: Friso Gentsch / dpa
In the struggle for a lifetime extension for the last three nuclear power plants in operation, the CDU politician Jens Spahn accuses the SPD of Chancellor Olaf Scholz of blocking itself.
»This politically motivated blockade must finally be abandoned.
Germany and Europe urgently need this electricity in winter," said the deputy chairman of the Union parliamentary group during a visit to the Emsland nuclear power plant in Lingen.
Spahn insists on extending the term of the nuclear reactor.
According to the operator RWE, a so-called stretching operation is possible until April 2023, said Spahn - contrary to what the responsible SPD minister in Lower Saxony claims.
Lower Saxony's Energy and Environment Minister Olaf Lies (SPD) recently confirmed in a SPIEGEL interview that there would be no stretching operations in Emsland.
»The Emsland reactor will go offline at the end of the year.
Anything else makes no sense,” said Lies.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz recently called for the three nuclear power plants Isar 2 in Bavaria, Emsland in Lower Saxony and Neckarwestheim 2 in Baden-Württemberg, which remained on the grid until December 31, to be allowed to run beyond the turn of the year 2023/24.
Spahn now said: “The record prices clearly show that we are also in an electricity crisis.
A stretching operation of the Emsland nuclear power plant would therefore be correct.«
more on the subject
Lower Saxony's Environment Minister on the German nuclear debate: »The reactor will go offline at the end of the year.
Everything else makes no sense«An interview by Hubert Gude
Nuclear power renaissance: switch off now more than ever! A guest contribution by Achim Brunnengräber, Albert Denk and Lucas Schwarz
Fact check on the nuclear power plant debate: What will a renaissance of nuclear power bring - and what alternatives are there? By Susanne Götze and Patrick Stotz
Energy crisis: Merz calls for the purchase of new nuclear fuel rods
Albert Stegemann, member of the Lower Saxony CDU Bundestag, said that the Emsland nuclear power plant is the most modern nuclear power plant in Germany and that it supplies electricity safely and reliably.
"If it's technically possible and we're making ourselves less susceptible to blackmail - as we're currently experiencing from Russia - then temporary continued operation makes perfect sense."
The federal government wants to make its decision on a temporary extension of the service life of the three remaining nuclear power plants dependent on the result of a stress test currently underway for the power grid.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit recently said that when the result is available, one must see whether such an extension is justifiable.
fek/dpa