BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Are the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany still running against the background of the gas crisis? In any case, the federal government is again leaving a door gap open for continued operation beyond the end of the year. The background is a new stress test for the security of the power supply in Germany.
A government spokeswoman said on Monday in Berlin that the question of nuclear power plants had not been an ideological question for the federal government from the start, but a purely technical one. She referred to the announced second stress test. “That is the basis of decisions.”
A spokeswoman for Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said that the second stress test calculation was being made to sound out other scenarios. The first calculation had already made very strict assumptions. “But still, we’ll calculate again and then decide on the basis of clear facts.”
Green parliamentary group leader Britta Haelmann told the German Press Agency on Monday: “There is a social consensus to phase out nuclear power, which we are not jeopardizing.” Nuclear power is a “high-risk technology,” she said. “Wanting to fix a gas shortage with nuclear power is and will remain a bogus debate.”
The FDP as a coalition partner is in favor of longer nuclear lifetimes. On Sunday, the Ministry of Economics announced a second stress test by the transmission system operators to ensure the security of the electricity supply. Results can be expected “in the next few weeks”. A first stress test from March to May of this year came to the conclusion that security of supply is guaranteed for the coming winter. In a further stress test, however, more severe scenarios are to be calculated. According to the ministry, these include even higher price assumptions than in the first stress test, an even more serious failure of gas supplies and a greater failure of French nuclear power plants.
In addition, the special situation in southern Germany should be taken into account. There are gas-fired power plants in Bavaria, but few coal-fired power plants and few wind turbines, and the last nuclear power plants will be shut down by the end of 2022, it said.
The big concern in Germany at the moment is that Russia will not turn on the gas tap again on the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline after maintenance that could be over by the end of this week.
In view of the energy crisis, there has been a debate for months as to whether the three nuclear power plants should continue to operate – whether only for a short time or even for a few years.
So far, the position of the federal government has been that the three nuclear power plants Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2 will be shut down by December 31, 2022 at the latest. In March, Habeck and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) advised against longer operating times for nuclear power plants. At the time, it was said that a small contribution to energy supply would entail major economic, legal and safety risks.
An extension of the running times of the nuclear power plants still in operation would not bring any additional amounts of electricity in the coming winter, it was said – but at the earliest from autumn 2023 after renewed filling with newly manufactured fuel rods. The three nuclear power plants account for around 5 percent of Germany’s electricity production. The three operators of the plants have also rejected any extensions to the service life.
According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, the federal government warned of regional emergencies in winter at a meeting with the heads of the state chancellery. The Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Freie Whler) told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” that the Isar 2 nuclear power plant covers 15 percent of Bavaria’s electricity requirements and can run with the existing fuel rods until August 2023. Homes can be heated with electricity, not only with electric heaters, but also with heat pumps.
Meanwhile, FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Drr rejected “horse trading” to introduce a speed limit. Extending the run times of nuclear power plants could make a significant contribution to closing an impending gas gap, but not the speed limit. “If we leave the nuclear power plants connected to the grid longer, we save gas – because we prevent scarce gas resources from being used to generate electricity,” Drr told the dpa. “Unfortunately, petrol and diesel from the filling station do nothing to relieve the strained energy market. This horse-trading would not lead to securing supplies in winter.”
Union faction leader Jens Spahn (CDU) said in the ARD “Morgenmagazin” that the speed limit makes a relatively small difference in energy consumption – “but if the Greens say it would be a national compromise, we’ll do it for half a year with nuclear energy I think we should be able to talk about a speed limit if there is a shortage of use for a longer period of time”./hoe/DP/ngu