“The legal bases will be created to allow the operation of the Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland nuclear power plants”, specifies a letter from the Chancellor to the government.
Germany will extend the operation of its last three nuclear power plants until at least April 2023, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Monday, amid the global energy crisis. “The legal bases will be created to allow the operation of the Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland nuclear power plants beyond December 31, 2022 and until April 15, 2023“, Specifies a letter from the Chancellor to the government that AFP was able to consult.
The government had previously only announced the maintenance of two of the three plants beyond the end of 2022. Europe’s largest economy is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian energy imports following the war in Ukraine. The fate of the Emsland power station in northern Germany had sparked friction within the coalition government of Olaf Scholz, between the anti-nuclear Greens and the liberal FDP in particular. But the Chancellor finally decided, without a consensus having been reached.
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Germany initially aimed to phase out nuclear power before the end of 2022, but the war in Ukraine has upended its plans. The German government has also decided to extend the activity of several coal-fired power stations until spring 2024, even if it has set itself the objective of abandoning this energy in 2030. The Swedish activist Greta Thunberg had considered it preferable to continue using the nuclear power plants currently in operation in Germany rather than turning to coal, in a recent interview on German television.
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