Nuclear power plants in reserve: Habeck rejects doubts about feasibility
Created: 09/07/2022Updated: 09/07/2022 18:28
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) speaks at a press conference after the meeting of the federal government.
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
The Economics Minister's proposal for reserve operation of nuclear power plants is causing controversy.
In a letter, an operator doubts the technical feasibility.
Habeck rejects this.
Berlin - In the debate about the lifetime of the last three nuclear power plants, Economics Minister Robert Habeck dismissed doubts about the technical feasibility of operating the Bavarian Isar 2 plant as a reserve.
The reason for the reply was a letter from the operator to State Secretary Patrick Graichen on Tuesday.
In it, Preussenelektra boss Guido Knott described the ministry's proposal to transfer two of the three nuclear power plants that will be running until the end of the year to a reserve as "technically unfeasible".
The proposal is therefore "unsuitable for securing the supply contribution of the systems," quoted the "Spiegel" from the letter.
"Testing a start-up procedure that has never been practiced before should not coincide with a critical state of the power supply," Knott said, according to "Spiegel".
Habeck "surprised" by the letter from the nuclear power plant operator
Habeck expressed surprise.
The Greens politician accused the group of not having understood the concept of the emergency reserve: There are no plans to start up and shut down the systems.
Rather, it is intended to “decide once whether the power plants are needed or not”.
This could happen in December, January or February.
"The technicians from Preussenelektra obviously missed that." Habeck also referred to an earlier letter from the energy company in August, in which he said that a short-term standstill would be necessary even in the event of a longer stretching operation.
According to Habeck, this information from the group contradicts itself.
Now it should be clarified in new talks what applies, said the Minister of Economic Affairs.
He pointed out that an overhaul would also have been necessary in the case of a stretching operation, "that is, the obvious wish of Preussenelektra".
Preussenelektra belongs to Germany's largest energy group Eon.
The FDP is also skeptical
The energy policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Michael Kruse, explained: "Robert Habeck's proposal obviously does not stand up to in-depth technical examination." Nuclear power plants are not an experimental field for green election campaign success.
The government must now present a new concept to ensure security of supply.
There is no realistic way around extending the terms.
The Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger called the rejection of the reserve operation by Preussenelektra a "super meltdown for the federal government".
"Because of green ideological politics, Germany is facing political incapacity and an economic disaster," said the Free Voter politician.
An Eon spokesman did not want to comment on the letter from Preussenelektra to the ministry (BMWK) when asked.
“We communicated on Monday evening that, in terms of their technical design, nuclear power plants are not reserve power plants that can be variably switched on and off.
You can assume that we are in close contact with the BMWK to find a workable solution," he said.
It's about these nuclear power plants
According to the plans of the Federal Ministry, the Neckarwestheim 2 nuclear power plant in Baden-Württemberg is also to be transferred to a reserve.
After the Preussenelektra letter became known, a local spokesman said: "We are currently in contact with the Federal Ministry of Economics to clarify the specific details and our questions." Only then can the technical and organizational feasibility be assessed.
"We ask for your understanding that we will not take part in public debates until then." dpa
