Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) has criticized recurring calls from the FDP and the opposition for longer nuclear power plant runtimes. “Let’s not kid ourselves: if we were to buy new fuel rods now, the old nuclear power plants might still run for another 20 years. The risks are high, as the massive problems in France show,” Bas told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on Monday. “We should definitely leave it at the last extension until April 2023, end this debate and accelerate the expansion of renewable energies.”
The energy transition has been stalled for far too long because Germany relied on “cheap gas and oil” from Russia, Bas said. “Adhering to nuclear power would again slow down the necessary transformation.” In addition, numerous problems have not been solved to this day, “above all the nuclear waste that nobody wants.”
Wissing calls for “no taboos” on AKW running times
At the end of December, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) again questioned the nuclear phase-out, which had been postponed to mid-April. “The demand for electricity will increase rapidly as electromobility ramps up,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. When it comes to electricity production, “there shouldn’t be any taboos, not even when it comes to nuclear lifespans”. The statements provoked protests from the Greens.
Because of the energy crisis, the nuclear phase-out in Germany, which was actually planned for the turn of the year, was postponed by three and a half months to mid-April. The decision was made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) after a long dispute between the Greens and the FDP.
