- The intention of the German Government was to suspend the operation of all German nuclear plants before the end of 2022. But as a result of the Ukrainian War and the gas restrictions that came from Russia, the parliamentary majority voted in favour of extending this maturity for four months. Now they say they are going to support renewable energies.
The German Government has announced that it will disconnect the last three nuclear power stations in operation on Saturday, Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland. Germany’s decision to move away from nuclear power was taken in 2002, an accelerated process in 2011 by Angela Merkel following the Fukushima disaster.
Euronews announces that the opposition and some members of the alliance governing the country denounce that reactors are operating "without the necessary safety control". Free President Wolfgang Kubiki stated in an interview that Germany has the safest nuclear power plants in the world and that disconnecting would be a "dramatic mistake" with painful economic and ecological consequences.
The German Environment Ministry says that maintaining nuclear power stations would be "illegal and expensive". All three reactors were last tested for safety in 2009 and should normally be monitored every 10 years.
Wolfram Axthelm, director of the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), believes that nuclear power plants are not necessary to supply Germany. To this end, he highlighted the use of wind and solar energy, favoring renewables.