CDU hopeful Christoph Ploß not only criticizes the shutdown of German nuclear power plants in the middle of the greatest energy crisis. He offensively pleads for a re-entry into new, nuclear technologies.
ntv.de: You are now considered the Mister Atom of the CDU. For months you have been harshly criticizing the traffic light government for its exit decision. Now, in a book, you even demand that Germany should open up to new types of nuclear power plant technologies. Are you serious?
Christoph Ploß: The Federal Republic is stuck in the biggest energy crisis in its history. The existence of hundreds of companies and the prosperity of millions are at stake. If a government shuts down nuclear power plants without need in this catastrophic situation, then that is a serious political failure. Millions of Germans are worried about whether we will have enough electricity and gas in the coming winter. That is why we, the CDU, are also calling for the lifetimes of the last three nuclear power plants to be extended. This alone can supply ten million households with electricity. We will continue to exert political pressure on the traffic light coalition. Because the ideological constraints of the Greens must not be more important than the needs of the people in our country.
On the other hand, the Greens have initiated the massive re-entry into coal power. It wasn’t easy for them either.
Unfortunately, the restart of the coal-fired power plants is sorely needed. But here, too, the Habeck Ministry is delaying the ramp-up with all sorts of regulations. Germany cannot phase out nuclear energy and coal-fired power generation at the same time. We now see that we urgently need nuclear energy alongside renewables. Especially in a crisis imposed by Russia. In a drama like this, people expect pragmatic answers. But what the Greens are doing on the subject of nuclear power is pure ideology.
Federal Minister of Economics Habeck is the big scapegoat for you. Isn’t that too cheap?
Robert Habeck is a great storyteller but a weak minister. He causes chaos in the gas levy, forgets the middle class and shows a frightening ignorance about simple economic relationships. He alone is responsible for simply shutting down the nuclear power plants in the middle of the crisis winter. From my point of view, Olaf Scholz must intervene urgently. This leadership weakness of the Federal Chancellor harms our country.
Since the vast majority of the population also supports emergency operation, the traffic light government could ultimately leave two power plants in operation for a few weeks. Is that enough for you then?
no Germany does not have to hedge for a few weeks, but for many quarters. In the long term, we need nuclear power plants to continue to operate. The nuclear power plants generate safe and base load capable CO2-neutral electricity. Therefore, we must not close any option. I believe that we should rely on a combination of nuclear energy and renewable energies, precisely in order to achieve climate protection goals and ensure energy security.
You are among those who want to fundamentally reverse the German nuclear phase-out. There was consensus in the CDU, too, that Germany would completely withdraw from this. What has changed?
At least since February 24, when Russia attacked Ukraine, everything has changed. It should give us food for thought that many countries are currently getting into nuclear energy and that many countries are investing heavily in it. In China alone, more than 30 new nuclear power plants are being planned. Several of our direct neighbors want to get into nuclear power or expand it. Are they all – the French, the Poles, the Belgians – more stupid than we are? The exit scenario of the traffic light coalition assumes that we will import nuclear power from the Czech Republic and France. That can’t be the solution. So I see with great concern that the Greens want to hold the next dropout debate as if the electricity actually came out of the socket as if by magic. This time it’s about Iter, the international research reactor in southern France. Research is being carried out there into generating energy through nuclear fusion in the future. A prime example of a joint European project and transnational cooperation in Europe.
Do you believe in nuclear fusion?
We should explore all conceivable options – many states are counting on it. If the fusion of hydrogen isotopes succeeds there, all of humanity’s energy problems will be solved and CO2 emissions will be massively reduced very soon.
Isn’t such a plan unrealistic? So far, more energy has to be supplied to the reactors than is generated by them. So they’re just not efficient.
Many Asian scientists are convinced that they will be able to generate energy from nuclear fusion as early as 2040. The federal government should take the lead here and actively promote this project, which is so important for humanity.
America, Russia and France are more likely to rely on a new generation of mini nuclear power plants. What do you make of it?
A lot. Unfortunately, Germany is not part of this technological leap if we are only discussing where we want to drop out or not.
But the Union didn’t exactly cover itself with glory either. Isn’t the grand coalition also responsible for the current failure of German energy policy?
Yes that’s right. We in Germany have not been open enough to technology for too long and unfortunately this trend is increasing under the traffic light government. We should broaden our horizons again and recognize that, in addition to photovoltaic systems and wind power plants, there will probably be technologically spectacular, clean and safe sources of energy in the near future. Of course, saving electricity is still sensible. But with a growing global population, the increasing demand for energy cannot be met with self-imposed asceticism or bans imposed by politicians alone – especially since we will need much more electricity in the future if we want to achieve climate protection goals and get away from oil and gas.
Wolfram Weimer spoke to Christoph Ploß
