It wasn’t that long ago, barely a month depending on what was said, that any extension of the service life of the three German nuclear reactors that are still connected to the grid was, at least rhetorically, a long way off.
But the tone changes. Union and FDP had long been in favor of a debate in which the “arguments are brought to the table without prejudice”, as Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) demanded, now parts of the SPD are also open to it. And even the nuclear-critical Greens suddenly seem flexible. nuclear power? From the categorical “No, thank you!” could become an “if I have to”.
Because the situation has changed. Germany is probably heading for an energy crisis if Russian gas continues to flow in small quantities through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline. Most recently, the delivery quantities were throttled again. It is a war of nerves with an uncertain outcome. Could nuclear power be at least part of the solution?
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), who had once again rejected a lifetime extension – too great a risk with too little benefit – no longer rules out continued operation of the nuclear power plant against this background. Although under certain conditions.
A second, far-reaching stress test is now intended to show whether a longer term could help with possible bottlenecks in winter, after a first one in spring showed that Germany’s electricity supply security was guaranteed even under difficult conditions.
A “special scenario” could result from the results that are expected in the next few weeks, Habeck said on “RTL Aktuell”. “The relevant question that needs to be asked is whether the electricity grid stability needs to be secured through further measures this year.” Now look at “whether this year is so extreme that a new scenario should be opened for it again,” said Habeck.
Are the Greens giving up their opposition to nuclear power? That’s not how Winfried Kretschmann wants it to be understood. But the Green Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg also says: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no” – to the “claim”, said Kretschmann on ZDF, with a clear rejection of extended nuclear power lifetimes stayed.
You have to wait for the results of the stress test. “It’s only about a time-limited, possible extension of nuclear power plants that are still in operation,” said the Green. “We will evaluate that very soberly and decide.” Chancellor Scholz also wants to wait for the results before making decisions, as a government spokeswoman announced on Monday.
Resistance may crumble, but skepticism remains. On the way to an agreement, there could still be a bitter dispute in the traffic light government, and all sorts of questions are still unanswered: How many power plants could remain on the grid? And for how long?
For the FDP, which, alongside the opposition Union, has long been in favor of extending the term, it is also about solidarity. “Not only Germany is facing a serious energy crisis, but all of Europe,” said parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr to the German Press Agency. “I don’t see how we can explain to our European partners that we are shutting down secure sources of energy for ideological reasons while France has one foot in an electricity crisis.” Germany must “always be able to export electricity to our neighbors.” An extension of the term would therefore be an “important sign of European solidarity.”
Unlike Germany, France relies heavily on nuclear power to generate electricity. However, around half of the power plants are currently not connected to the grid due to defects or maintenance work, so that the piles supply less electricity than usual. Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) pointed out on Sunday evening in the ARD program “Anne Will” that Germany is currently exporting electricity to France. The nuclear power plants could no longer work there because they could not be cooled down.
The influential Federation of German Industries (BDI) argues indirectly, but in a similar way: “For Germany, consistent practice of European solidarity means providing as much energy as possible itself, from all available sources,” said Wolfgang Niedermark, member of the executive board.
In any case, things cannot go fast enough for the Union. CDU leader Friedrich Merz called on the federal government to immediately procure new fuel rods for the three remaining power plants. “The federal government must now seek new fuel rods,” Merz told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
Not only a temporary stretching operation with old fuel rods can be maintained. “We have to allow continued operation until the risk of a bottleneck has been eliminated.” The time to order new fuel rods is running out. Economics Minister Habeck must act now to avoid a power shortage in winter.
According to current nuclear law, the last three German reactors actually have to be taken off the grid by December 31 at the latest. During stretching, the nuclear power plants would first be throttled so that they can then be operated with the existing fuel rods beyond the turn of the year.
The managing director of the Tüv Association, Joachim Bühler, even considers a quick restart of the decommissioned nuclear power plants Brokdorf (Schleswig-Holstein), Grohnde (Lower Saxony) and Gundremmingen C (Bavaria) to be feasible and safe from a safety point of view. He told the “Bild” newspaper that restarting the reactors that were shut down in 2021 was “not a question of years, but rather of a few months or weeks” – and above all a question of political will. “We are convinced that the three power plants are in a state of safety that would make it possible to connect them to the grid again,” said Bühler.
So? The door to nuclear power opens a crack – but whether and when it will be pushed open remains an open question. “There will be no extension of the term with us,” said Ricarda Lang, co-boss of the Greens, in the “Tagesspiegel”. However, she did not rule out a stretching operation. “We’re doing the stress test for electricity again. Of course we’re looking at the results, but as of now there’s nothing to suggest it.” This position is now about a week ago. But the situation is changing – and obviously the tone too.
