About two weeks ago, American researchers made a spectacular breakthrough: nuclear fusion produces more energy than is put into it. The FDP is now pushing for the expansion of the new technology on German soil. This would be “the solution to all our energy problems”.
The FDP wants to make the Federal Republic a pioneer in the use of nuclear fusion. “It would be great if the first nuclear fusion reactor, which produces electricity for companies and households, was built in Germany,” said Christian Dürr, leader of the FDP parliamentary group, in the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. That must be “our goal”.
That’s why he proposes to the traffic light coalition to legislate the possibilities for the development of nuclear fusion. Dürr criticized the fact that energy policy had been too heavily influenced by bans and restrictions in recent years. When it comes to the question of “how we will shape our energy supply in the future, we have to be open to technology,” said the FDP politician. He hopes that the Greens not only look back, but also look ahead.
Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger is also hoping for more ambition and money for research into nuclear fusion. “Fusion is a huge opportunity to solve all our energy problems – we can use it to bring the sun to earth,” she told the newspapers of Mediengruppe Bayern. Her house has been funding research into fusion for years, most recently with more than 140 million euros per year. “We now need more ambition to pave the way to a fusion power plant,” she added.
In mid-December, the debate about fusion power plants received new impetus because American researchers announced a breakthrough in nuclear fusion. According to experts, mankind is still years away from using the technology in practice. In contrast to nuclear fission, which takes place in today’s nuclear power plants, nuclei of hydrogen atoms would be fused into helium nuclei in fusion reactors.
In the past few months, the FDP and the Greens had fought intensively to keep the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany in operation. The FDP actually wanted to run the reactors until 2024, the Greens only two of them until spring 2023 at the latest. In the end, the coalition approved the extension of the operating times of the three nuclear power plants until mid-April 2023.
