Nuclear power in Germany: three nuclear power plants will go offline on New Year’s Eve

In Germany, three nuclear power plants will be shut down. The last nuclear power plants are to be taken out of operation in 2022. However, there are still some ambiguities.

Munich – The nuclear phase-out in Germany is getting closer, with the turn of the year it will reach its penultimate stage. On December 31, 2021, three nuclear power plants in Germany will stop feeding electricity into the grid. What remains are three nuclear power plants – as well as unanswered questions about the European line and accumulated nuclear waste.

Nuclear power, no thanks: Germany wants to shut down all nuclear power plants by 2022

After the reactor catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan in 2011, the then black and yellow Merkel government withdrew a term extension for German nuclear power plants that had been approved a few months earlier and initiated the nuclear phase-out. The eight oldest reactors in Germany were shut down immediately, the remaining nine should follow gradually by 2022. The accident in Japan had a major impact on German energy policy. In the last few years the Federal Republic has been relying on renewables instead of nuclear energy.

At 51.8 percent, more than half of the electricity is currently generated in this way, according to the Federal Statistical Office. The most important energy source is wind power, which in 2020 represented around a quarter of the amount of electricity fed into the grid. In the past ten years, more than 10,000 systems have been installed in Germany. In addition to wind, the proportion of photovoltaics in Germany is also increasing. On the other hand, lignite production is to be reduced. By 2030, 80 percent of Germany’s electricity needs are to be generated from renewable energies – an ambitious goal *.

Nuclear power plants in Germany

Nuclear power: Germany against, France in favor – dispute in the EU?

The shutdown of German nuclear power plants is also a European issue. Because the European Union has so far clearly missed finding a unified position on nuclear power. Nuclear power is a real hot topic in the EU. There are some countries like Austria or Belgium that, like Germany, want to turn away from nuclear energy. On the other hand, however, a group of states around the influential France is in favor of expanding nuclear energy. The French are the third largest producers of nuclear power in the world, behind the USA and China. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia also support a policy for nuclear power plants.

While Germany wants to have all nuclear power plants connected to the grid in a year, France is planning to build new reactors. Put simply, France and its supporters assume that the European climate targets can only be achieved with the use of nuclear reactors, because nuclear energy causes low CO2 emissions. France has recently even exerted considerable pressure to classify nuclear power as an environmentally friendly energy. Germany rejects this *.

Video: France – nuclear power for climate protection

Nuclear waste in Germany: In search of the final repository

The Federal Republic of Germany as well as the other nuclear opponents point above all to the risks of the final storage of nuclear waste. The nuclear waste must be safely stored for a million years. However, this also requires a nuclear waste repository, which has not yet been found.

The Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND) criticizes the fact that nuclear waste is currently standing at the interim storage locations throughout Germany for significantly longer than permitted. “The interim storage facilities are already an enormous security risk,” said Holger Sticht, BUND state chairman in North Rhine-Westphalia. “There is a lack of repair and inspection options, and protection against potential terrorist attacks is insufficient.” The BUND also called on the Ampel-Coalition * to find a common European solution. However, it is questionable whether this will be found.

One thing is certain: When the lights go out in the last German nuclear power plant at the end of 2022, the nuclear waste that has accumulated over decades will continue to shine in large quantities. Experts expect around 10,500 tons of highly radioactive waste from fuel elements by 2080. At some point they should rest in a repository that is officially supposed to be found by 2031. Until that happens, however, the federal government still faces challenges. The Ministry of the Environment *, led by the Greens and officially called the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, is largely responsible for this area. Which places are actually considered? A first map with possible repositories caused discussions in September. We have put together all the important data, graphics and further information on the search for a repository for nuclear waste for you. (as) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA