“A lot of misinformation comes from the Greens”

Is nuclear power too dangerous, or can it help us in the climate crisis? Barack Obama's former energy minister complains about Germany's strategy.

Munich – Germany has withdrawn from nuclear energy. Under the leadership of the SPD and the Greens, radioactive waste is to be avoided, for which humanity still has no solution. In addition, the danger of a nuclear accident was painfully reminded to the public after the Fukushima disaster. Despite these strong arguments, not all countries are pursuing a nuclear-free approach.

France continues to build nuclear power plants – Germany has completed the phase-out

France, for example, wants to build eight more nuclear power plants in the coming years in addition to the six nuclear power plants already planned – and thus far more than previously planned. In total, the construction of 14 reactors is under discussion. In contrast to Germany, the neighboring country relies heavily on nuclear energy to replace coal-fired power plants and reduce CO2 emissions.

Nobel Prize winner in physics Professor Steven Chu also advocates nuclear energy as an interim solution. He signed a petition to preserve the Federal Republic's nuclear power plants. He predicted that not enough renewable energy could be produced to make up for the lack of electricity. “I thought they would end up needing fossil fuel power plants for that. And that’s exactly what happened,” he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. There was a similar situation in California, but the governor was able to be convinced to revise the phase-out.

Nobel laureate Chu: Greens “not really interested in climate and sustainability”

The renowned professor therefore harshly criticizes the Greens, who celebrated the nuclear phase-out. “A lot of misinformation comes from the Greens. If these people were sensible, which many are not, they would choose nuclear energy over the alternative, namely gas-fired power plants, whose greenhouse gases have to be captured,” said Chu, who served as US energy secretary under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013.

Anyone who wants natural gas without this separation is “not really interested in the climate and sustainability,” the physicist makes it clear. He advocates using small nuclear reactors as emergency power. This realization is slowly gaining ground. He also criticizes the “irrational” fear of a nuclear accident and compares it with the Greens’ irrational fear of genetically modified grain.

“It's okay to cross-breed plants, it's okay to spray pesticides, but it's apparently not okay to use molecular biology,” he complains. The future reality includes increasing prosperity and increasing energy demand.

Former US energy minister points to low number of deaths at nuclear power plants

With regard to nuclear accidents, he refers to statistics from “Our World in Data”, where you can see the deaths per terawatt hour of electricity generated. Nuclear power plants would come first with 0.03 deaths (all nuclear accidents in the world added together), even ahead of wind energy. “That's crazy. The public needs to understand this,” he pleads.

However, Chu admits that the problem of nuclear waste is “significant.” Nevertheless, he is optimistic that this can be brought under control. The former minister calls for the construction of another generation of nuclear power plants, which should last 60 years to achieve the climate goals.

In Germany, the parties do not agree on nuclear energy. The CDU is pushing for re-entry. The FDP, although part of the traffic light government, also describes the exit as a “strategic mistake,” according to FDP General Secretary Bijan Dj
ir-Sarai. Since the exit, more electricity has been imported into Germany again. (cgsc)