Germany is considering extending the life of the country’s remaining nuclear power plants, the Economy Ministry said on Monday, as public support mounts in the face of a possible Russian gas cut.
Germany’s three remaining nuclear plants are scheduled to be closed by the end of the year after former Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to phase out nuclear power following the collapse of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011.
The three plants accounted for 6% of Germany’s electricity production in the first quarter of 2022.
A first examination by the environment and economic ministries in March found that extending the life of plants was not recommended, citing legal, licensing and insurance challenges, the need for extensive and possibly expensive safety checks and the lack of safety bars. fuel to keep the plants running.
But the drop in Russian gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline has encouraged pro-nuclear voices in Germany and Europe ahead of a feared electricity crisis this winter.
The ministry said electricity grid operators had requested a second examination of the feasibility of nuclear power.
“We will now recalculate and then make a decision based on clear facts,” a ministry spokesman said, adding that the results of the new assessment are expected in a few weeks.
Members of the conservative opposition CDU/CSU bloc blamed the Green Party, which heads the Economy Ministry, for the government’s resistance to changing course on the issue, saying it was purely ideological.
But deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said the issue of extending the terms was never ideological but technical for the government.
Source: CNN Brasil
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