2024-03-06 16:29:02
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposed the country’s return to nuclear energy, pointing out the unprofitability of building nuclear power plants, Day.Az reports with reference to TASS.
“If someone decides to build a nuclear power plant now, then, based on the current construction timeframe, it will be ready in 15-20 years,” he said during a trip to the city of Sindelfingen in southwestern Germany. According to the chancellor, during this period the country will already have time to solve all problems in the field of energy.
Scholz said that electricity generated by nuclear power plants costs much more than that produced by wind, solar and other sources. “If in 20 years you look back and see who made a cheaper and more efficient decision on the issue of electricity production, it will be our country,” the DPA agency quotes him as saying.
On April 15 last year, the German authorities disconnected the last three operating nuclear power plants from the power grid – Isar-2, Neckarwestheim-2 and Emsland. The decision to gradually phase out nuclear power plants was made back in 2011 under Angela Merkel, who was then chancellor, after the accident at the Japanese Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. The authorities initially planned to shut down the last nuclear power plants by January 1, 2023, but in light of the conflict in Ukraine and the situation with energy supplies from the Russian Federation, it was decided to extend the operating life until April 15, 2023.
The shutdown of the nuclear power plant caused fierce discussions and debates in German society and political circles. Even within the ranks of the ruling coalition there was a split on the issue of shutting down the stations. The Free Democrats favored the continued use of nuclear power plants and insisted that nuclear power was reliable and environmentally friendly. But the “greens” eventually managed to defend their agenda in the government and achieve a shutdown.
The first commercial nuclear power plant was launched in Germany in 1960 in the Bavarian district of Lower Franconia.
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