BERLIN: Germany will shut down its final three nuclear reactors on Saturday, giving up nuclear power while attempting to wean itself off fossil fuels and handle an energy crisis caused by the Ukraine conflict.
While many Western countries increase their investments in nuclear energy to reduce emissions, Germany is exiting the nuclear age early. Following years of deliberation, Germany declared an end to nuclear power after Japan’s Fukushima accident in 2011, which blasted radiation into the air and terrified the entire world.
However, the final phase was pushed back from last year to this year due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which forced Germany to suspend Russian fossil fuel imports. Prices soared, and there were fears of global energy shortages, but Germany is now optimistic about gas supply and renewable energy expansion.
The decision to quit was widely supported in a country with a strong anti-nuclear movement fueled by lingering worries of a Cold War conflict and atomic tragedies such as Chornobyl in Ukraine. Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, who visited the ill-fated Japanese plant last week before a G7 conference in Japan, stated that the hazards of nuclear power are ultimately uncontrollable.
However, the challenge posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which interrupted cheap gas imports, and the need to reduce emissions swiftly have increased calls in Germany to postpone nuclear power withdrawal. At the centre of the anti-nuclear campaign, Greenpeace organised a celebratory party at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate to honour the occasion.
According to the organisation, nuclear energy is now something of the past. In contrast, the conservative newspaper FAZ headed its Saturday edition “Thanks, nuclear energy,” listing the benefits nuclear energy had brought the country over the years.
Germany’s nuclear exit date had previously been pushed back from the end of 2022. As Russian gas supplies dropped last year, Berlin officials were forced to scramble to find a means to keep the lights on, with a temporary extension granted until mid-April. Germany, the EU’s top emitter, also restarted some of its idle coal-fired reactors to fill the potential gap left by gas.
The challenging energy situation had fueled domestic requests for delaying the nuclear phase-out. In view of expected shortages and high prices, Germany needed to “expand the supply of energy rather than restrict it any further,” according to Peter Adrian, head of the German chambers of business.
Technicians at the Isar 2 complex in Bavaria will gradually shut down the reactor starting at 10:00 p.m. (20:00 GMT) on Saturday, effectively disconnecting it from the grid. Guido Knott, CEO of PreussenElektra, which operated Isar 2 until a few hours before the deadline, said it would be an emotional occasion for colleagues to shut down the power plant for the final time.
