Neckarwestheim (dpa/lsw) – For the municipality of Neckarwestheim (Heilbronn district), the end of the nuclear power plant there is associated with severe financial cuts. Five to ten million euros in trade tax – mainly from the nuclear power plant – poured into the coffers every year, said Mayor Jochen Winkler (independent) of the German Press Agency. Since he took office in 2016, it has been about preparing the budget for the time after the nuclear power plant. “We let the air out,” said the town hall chief of the 4,200-inhabitant municipality. The reserve is good, but the next steps could hurt.
Unit 1 of the nuclear power plant went into operation in 1976. In 2011, it was among the first to be shut down after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Unit 2 went online in 1989. Actually, as one of the last three reactors in Germany, it should have been switched off on New Year’s Eve. However, as a result of the energy crisis, the federal government extended the term until mid-April in order to secure the power supply.
