Nuclear exit in the ticker: Opponents celebrate shutdown, supporters demonstrate

Akw opponents celebrate shutdown – supporters demonstrate in the middle of Berlin

Saturday, April 15, 5:00 p.m.: The imminent shutdown of the last German nuclear power plants once again brought people with different attitudes to nuclear energy onto the streets on Saturday. The environmental protection organization Greenpeace celebrated the phasing out of nuclear energy at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin – there they showed a little red man with a “nuclear power? No thanks” sign and a sword on top of a replica dinosaur. “German nuclear power” and “Defeated on April 15, 2023!” were written on the dinosaur’s belly.

At the Brandenburg Gate, however, some people also protested against the shutdown of the nuclear power plants. The association Nuklearia had announced in an appeal that it wanted to set a positive sign for nuclear power. “We see nuclear power as the best way to maintain our prosperity while protecting nature and the climate,” writes the association.

On Saturday evening, the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany are finally to go offline. The Meiler Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2 should actually have been shut down at the end of last year. However, because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, the government decided to let the power plants run over the winter.

On Saturday they must now be finally shut down in accordance with the amended Atomic Energy Act. This means that after more than 60 years, the generation of electricity from nuclear power in Germany has come to an end. Shutdown is expected just before midnight.

The organization Greenpeace rated the end of the use of nuclear energy in Germany as a “good day” for climate protection and as a success for the anti-nuclear movement. The executive director of Greenpeace Germany, Martin Kaiser, also called for the federal government to focus on safe disposal of the nuclear waste that has accumulated over decades and has been radiating for millions of years.

Prime Minister of Hesse criticizes nuclear phase-out – calls for more research

7:09 p.m.: The Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) has called for more research into new technologies for energy production in view of the nuclear phase-out. The Ukraine war and the energy crisis showed that Germany had to position itself broadly, Rhein told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Saturday). “Especially in view of the nuclear phase-out, we have to promote research that is open to technology. Not only get out, but also get in.”

One example is laser-based nuclear fusion, said Rhein. Hesse is well suited for nuclear fusion research, emphasized the Prime Minister.

Rhein sharply criticized the exit from nuclear power as irrational and “ideology-driven”. “At a time when nuclear power plants are being built in Europe, when Germany wants to phase out coal-fired power for good reason, when we will need more electricity for heat pumps and electric cars, we are depriving ourselves of a power source that has been reliable for decades,” said Rhine.

Nobel Prize winners and climate experts send an open letter to nuclear power plant closers Scholz

Friday, April 14, 9:37 a.m.: 20 scientists have written an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In it they demand that the nuclear power plants in Germany should continue to run – “in the interests of the citizens of Germany, Europe and the world“. Scholz is “under particular responsibility” on this issue, according to the authors. Among the signatories are the physics Nobel Prize winner Klaus von Klitzing (Max Planck Institute) and Stephen Chu (US Secretary of Energy under Barack Obama), who was also awarded this prize.

Scholz should “reconsider the German plans to phase out nuclear power” and “continue to use the available plants,” the letter says. This could contribute “to alleviating the energy crisis” as well as to achieving the German climate goals. According to the scientists, nuclear energy is more climate-friendly than coal. The potential for saving CO2 is therefore large.

The letter was published by the organization “Replanet DACH”. This is committed to environmental protection and relies on technological solutions.

The entire letter and all signatories can be found here.

Söder wants to keep nuclear power plants running and research nuclear fusion in Bavaria

Thursday, April 13, 9:30 a.m.: Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) is considering building a reactor for research into nuclear fusion in Bavaria. That said the CSU party leader in an exclusive interview with FOCUS online. The opportunity that arises after a breakthrough by US researchers should not be wasted. “Therefore, Bavaria will get involved in research into the new nuclear fusion,” said Söder.

The CSU leader also spoke out in favor of continuing nuclear energy in Germany after the federal elections in 2025, should the Union win the election. So far, Söder had only requested a continuation for a limited period of around two years during the energy crisis. “For me it is clear: If the Union wins the next federal election, there should be an extension of nuclear energy,” said Söder to FOCUS online.

It was the Union that decided to phase out nuclear power in Germany in 2011, and Söder was one of the driving forces at the time. The time is “a different one now,” said Söder about his change of heart.