As of: February 29, 2024, 9:50 a.m
By: Amy Walker
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At the International Crafts Fair in Munich, Habeck and Söder exchanged blows.
The Green Minister defends the government's course on phasing out nuclear power.
Munich – At the opening of the international craft fair in Munich, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) exchanged blows.
As is so often the case, the topic was nuclear power and Germany's still controversial decision to shut down its nuclear power plants.
Söder on nuclear power plants abroad: “We believe that we are somehow the better ones in the world”
Markus Söder once again reiterated his position that nuclear energy is the best option for renewable electricity in Germany for both climate protection and price reasons.
“In France they do it, in the Czech Republic they do it, in Sweden they do it, but we don’t do it because we believe that we are somehow the better ones in the world,” said the Prime Minister during the panel discussion.
Habeck then responded with a lengthy monologue in which he first attacked Söder and then addressed the facts about nuclear power - also with regard to the European neighbors mentioned by Söder.
“I don't want to add any unnecessary harshness, but, Mr. Söder, your argument would be more credible if you said 'we made a mistake' instead of 'you made a mistake',” says Habeck at the beginning, referring to that Markus Söder, as Environment Minister, threatened to resign in 2011 if the nuclear phase-out did not happen as quickly as possible.
“But everyone has to check their own political credibility,” said Habeck pointedly.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) at the craft fair © Sven Hoppe/dpa
The Economics Minister then addresses the situation in other European countries that use and even want to expand nuclear power - and how that differs from the German situation.
Habeck explains that Sweden has already found at least one nuclear waste repository in the country.
“That is the second argument, which is a bit difficult when you say that you are in favor of nuclear power, but at the same time Bavaria is the only country that knows before the test is completed: we will not have a nuclear waste repository,” counters Habeck – and receives applause.
In fact, Söder has repeatedly said publicly that there is no question of a nuclear storage facility in Bavaria.
“We are convinced that Bavaria is not a suitable location for a nuclear repository,” it even said in the coalition agreement between the CSU and Free Voters in the last legislative period.
In fact, Sweden, under the leadership of Energy Minister Ebba Busch, is planning to put ten new nuclear reactors into operation by 2045. The nuclear repository near Forsmark is intended to store radioactive waste for 100,000 years.
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In addition to the lack of a final storage facility for nuclear waste, Habeck also addresses the problem of the costs of nuclear energy on stage.
Nuclear power in France is subsidized, and the state-owned company EDF, which is responsible for nuclear power, has 70 billion euros in debt.
“I would like to see a municipal utility or some energy company in Germany want to take on 70 billion euros in debt, they would all be insolvent.”
The cost of renovating these power plants is also extremely expensive, Habeck continued.
EDF is also currently planning to build a new power plant in Great Britain, where costs would have increased from 21 to 38 billion pounds.
In fact, the cost could end up being closer to £40 billion, as Der
Spiegel
reported in January, which is why one Chinese investor wants to pull out.
In addition, commissioning will be delayed by several years.
“For gas power plants we are talking about a billion euros.
So much for the topic of cheap nuclear power,” said Habeck.
The Economics Minister also refutes the oft-quoted statement that Germany has to import a particularly large amount of nuclear power from France and other countries because we cannot meet our own electricity needs.
Habeck says that just two percent of German electricity consumption in 2023 will be imported, and of this two percent, 25 percent will consist of nuclear energy.
“No way, we depend on French nuclear power - it's all homeopathic, if I may put it that way.”
These figures come from the Agora Energiewende think tank.
In their report on the current status of the energy transition, the authors also write that the nuclear power phase-out has also led to: "After two decades of net exports, Germany became a net importer of electricity again for the first time in 2023." However, most of the electricity was imported from renewable sources in Scandinavia, the authors continue.