While the possible continued operation of nuclear power plants in Germany as a result of the energy crisis is being discussed publicly, environmentalists categorically reject the proposal. The energy generated by this is not only “unsafe and unprofitable”, but also “unnecessary”, as the chairman of the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), Olaf Bandt, emphasized.
The environmentalists base their arguments on a specially commissioned report prepared on their behalf by physicist Oda Becker. This criticizes a low-energy economic advantage and insufficient protection of the power plants against flooding and terrorist attacks.
The last security checks carried out in 2009 were based on a set of rules from the early 1980s that did not even take into account the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Only three remaining power plants on the grid
The three remaining German nuclear power plants Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 must be shut down before the end of the year under current law. Due to this date, the security check, which is actually required every ten years, has expired in 2019.
“Does not correspond to the state of the art”
Because gas threatens to become scarce in the winter, there has been discussion for weeks about running the power plants longer, which is assessed extremely critically in the BUND report: “The German nuclear power plants that are still in operation no longer correspond to the current state of science and technology,” it reads.
“In any case, a comprehensive and transparent safety review should be a precondition for the discussed life extension of the three nuclear power plants that are still in operation.”
Longer runtime “Devastating”
BUND boss Bandt finds it “devastating” that the long-term demand is being raised not only by the CDU, CSU and FDP, but also by parts of the Greens. This calls into question the party’s “foundation consensus”. Due to imminent supply bottlenecks, the Bavarian Greens Group leader Ludwig Hartmann had not ruled out a continuation of the activities after the end of the year.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
