Nuclear Power and the Greens

In class we have been learning about Energiewende, or Germany’s transition into a carbon- and nuclear-free energy system by year 2045. Nuclear energy is not popular in Germany amongst the people and with the history of the Fukushima disaster, nuclear energy became very unpopular as people feared a nuclear disaster could be possible in Germany as well. Despite phasing out the majority of their nuclear power plants, Germany is facing an energy dilemma due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which as interrupted supply chains and caused price shocks. With this, the plan to phase out the remaining nuclear power plants has been highly debated.

Germany should not completely phase out of nuclear energy, at least for the time being with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germany should revert back to previous plans of 2036, or potentially earlier if the circumstances allow but I do not see phasing out completely as a viable option given that 6% of the energy supply is derived from nuclear energy. Since 2011, the country has shut down 14 of the original 17 nuclear power plants, leaving the country with three operating nuclear energy facilities. Thus, I do not think it will be a problem to transition out eventually, it is just a matter of when. I believe that with the energy supply crisis and the war, it is important for Germany to have a diversified portfolio for energy in case of emergency. I do not think this would be politically impossible, because it would be keeping the nuclear power phase out on track, and just not speeding it up.

My assigned parliamentary party, the Greens, would not agree with this strategy, as they “want to strictly limit the runtime extension to two plants until next spring.” The Greens are opposed to any extensions that would go beyond the year 2024, for all three plants. They do not support the purchasing of nuclear fuel rods that would extend the facilities operations.