As of: March 26, 2024, 9:59 a.m
By: Lars-Eric Nievelstein
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The nuclear phase-out is certain.
It is said in Germany that the power plants are too expensive and too unsafe.
The other European countries, on the other hand, are just getting on board.
Brussels – Nuclear energy should be a permanent part of the European energy mix.
At least that was one of the goals of the nuclear summit, held just yesterday (March 21) by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Belgian state.
While many European countries are pushing ahead with the expansion of nuclear energy, Germany is retreating.
The costs are too high and the technology is too uncertain.
What's behind it?
The end of German nuclear power plants – Schröder’s “historic reform”
Let's take a look back.
While the traffic light coalition or the Merkel government are currently in the spotlight as those responsible for the nuclear phase-out, the legislation had a much earlier origin.
In 1998,
Spiegel
called the corresponding law, driven by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD), his “first truly historic reform”.
The goal was clear: the Federal Republic should say goodbye to nuclear power within 20 years.
The “Law for the Orderly Termination of the Use of Nuclear Energy for the Commercial Generation of Electricity” then came into force in 2002.
Today, Schröder is closely linked to Vladimir Putin and Rosneft and had a position on the supervisory board at Gazprom in prospect.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, in Brussels.
The nuclear phase-out is certain.
It is said in Germany that the power plants are too expensive and too unsafe.
The other European countries, on the other hand, are just getting on board.
© IMAGO/Xinhua
The Greens, who were already in government at the time, are now pushing ahead with the expansion of renewable energies, which currently requires enormous additional costs.
The opposition at that time used similar tones as today, as can be read in the Bundestag archives.
“They make quick decisions without thinking carefully about the consequences,” said CDU energy expert Dr.
Klaus Lippold introduced Jürgen Trittin (Greens), who was then Federal Minister for Energy and Nuclear Safety.
The FDP accused the government of lacking concept and that the nuclear phase-out would be at the expense of climate protection.
The USA is showing today what that means - at least since Obama, the country of unlimited possibilities has been relying on nuclear power to reduce CO₂ emissions.
How expensive is nuclear power really?
In addition to the question of safety, the question of cost was always one of the most important when it came to reactivating or building new nuclear reactors.
Opponents of nuclear power cite projects such as the British Hinkley Point C project, which ultimately cost 40 billion euros - significantly more than planned.
However, individual factors were responsible for this, which did not come into play, for example, in the construction of German power plants in the last millennium.
The “Levelized Cost of Energy” (LCOE) measurement unit reveals what costs nuclear power actually causes – even in the long term.
This shows what costs are necessary to convert a form of energy into electricity.
Investors and scientists use them to convert the investment costs into the total kilowatt hours produced.
The IEA provides a detailed table that calculates, among other things, the costs of the system, fuel costs and the costs of maintenance and repairs.
Shortly before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, six nuclear power plants were among the ten power plant types that had the lowest annual LCOE.
Nuclear power plant cost factor – “very high initial investments”
These included, for example, nuclear power plants in Sweden (US$28.18 conversion costs per megawatt hour), Switzerland (US$29.60) and France (US$30.65).
Investment bank Lazard's 2023 LCOE report showed that nuclear power had a lower LCOE than rooftop solar and was on par with gas-fired power plants.
However, Lazar uses US power plants as a basis - according to the IEA, those in Europe are cheaper.
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“Nuclear power undeniably requires very high initial investments,” WirtschaftsWoche
quoted
Hort-Michael Prasser, a professor of reactor technology at ETH Zurich.
“But a modern nuclear power plant runs for many decades.” In the long term, such power plants could supply electricity for four to five cents per kilowatt hour.
For coal and gas power plants, however, higher costs can be expected in the long term because CO₂ prices are constantly rising.
Europe is reviving nuclear power
Nuclear energy is currently experiencing a renaissance within the European Union.
Ursula von der Leyen, once part of the federal government that helped promote the nuclear phase-out, called on heads of state and ministers from 37 countries at the Atomic Energy Agency's nuclear summit to examine a possible extension of the service life of their power plants.
An additional new nuclear power plant is also planned.
Nuclear energy is now already enshrined in the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA).
According to the Tagesschau, twelve out of 27 EU countries operate nuclear power plants.
The Netherlands and Belgium had postponed or canceled their original exit plans, Poland wants to get involved first.
France is considered a nuclear powerhouse and wants to build six more plants - the Grande Nation already gets 65 percent of its electricity from nuclear power.
Energy transition in Germany needs more speed
And Germany?
The last three systems have been idle here since 2023.
According to the
world
, nuclear power generation would have to be multiplied if industrialized countries want to achieve their climate goals.
“No matter whether federal, state or local: the energy transition needs more speed,” said vbw managing director Bertram Brossardt recently.
The security measures to stabilize the power grid alone would have cost around five billion euros in 2022.
It remains to be seen whether there will also be a change in thinking in Germany.
In any case, the coalition agreement between the SPD and Alliance 90/The Greens in 1998 stated: “The phase-out of the use of nuclear energy will be regulated comprehensively and irreversibly within this legislative period.”