The World Briefly

April 17, 2023

Bye, Nukes

Germany

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Germany shut down its last three nuclear plants Saturday, ending its nuclear energy era even as other countries are looking to build plants following energy concerns sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Washington Post reported.

The shutdowns conclude a long-running debate about nuclear energy in the country that began more than 50 years ago in Germany and across Europe. Calls to close nuclear plants amplified after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, when radioactive clouds spread over Germany.

But phase-out plans faced decades of wrangling and flip-flops among political leaders.

It was only after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan that then-Chancellor Angela Merkel announced plans to shut down all 17 of Germany’s remaining nuclear reactors by the end of 2022.

Her successor, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, originally planned to close the three remaining plants by December, but opted to extend the deadline following the impact of the Ukraine war that forced Germany to find substitutes for cheap pipeline gas from Russia.

The extension came amid concerns that the country would not be able to power itself through the winter. But a mild winter, a natural gas buying spree and the firing up of old coal power plants helped Germany avoid energy shortages.

Before Moscow’s invasion, Germany relied on Russia for more than half of its natural gas supply.

While anti-nuclear energy groups hailed the closures, recent opinion polls show a majority of Germans wanted to keep the reactors going. Opposition to the shutdowns also emerged from politicians, including members of Scholz’s three-party coalition.

However, analysts said the decision to end nuclear power would have a limited impact on the country’s energy stability because the last three plants only made up a small fraction of Germany’s power output.

Even so, others said the shutdowns are a kind of an anomaly because many countries have increased interest in nuclear power since the Ukraine war rocked global energy markets.

This story originally appeared in the April 17, 2023 newsletter, Fair Weather Friend.