Germany no longer produces nuclear energy – only one federal state is against it

This has been announced by the operators of the Meiler Isar 2 in Bavaria, Neckarwestheim 2 in Baden-Württemberg and Emsland in Lower Saxony. According to the operator, the connection to the network had to be broken at 10:37 p.m. in Meiler Emsland. This was followed by Isar 2 at 23:52 and finally Neckarwestheim 2 at 23:59.

“The chapter is now closed,” the head of the Emsland operator RWE, Markus Krebber, said in a statement. “Now it is important to use all our strength to continue building hydrogen-capable gas-fired power stations as soon as possible in addition to renewable energy, so that security of supply is guaranteed if Germany ideally wants to phase out coal by 2030.”

Whether the chapter has actually been definitively closed is not one hundred percent certain – at least when it comes to Bayern. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder is calling for an amendment to the Atomic Energy Act. He wants a separate license to continue producing nuclear energy in Bavaria as long as the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine is not over, he told Bild am Sonntag. The nuclear debate will therefore continue to occupy Germany – not only because of the large amount of highly radioactive waste.

Production prohibited after midnight

Until the very last moment, the operators still produced electricity by means of nuclear fission – after midnight, this was no longer allowed according to the Atomic Energy Act. “We are working in accordance with the law and it is clear that using electricity from April 16 would be a criminal offense,” said the federal chief nuclear regulator, head of the department of nuclear safety and radiation protection at the Ministry of the Environment, Gerrit Niehaus , the German news agency.

More than 62 years ago, the first German nuclear power plant was commercially commissioned in Kahl, Lower Franconia. After the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in 2011, then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) pushed through the final phasing out of the technology in Germany.

Actually, the poles should have been removed from the net at the end of last year. Because of the Russian offensive war against Ukraine, the traffic light coalition of her successor Olaf Scholz (SPD) decided after weeks of consultation in the autumn to let the three reactors run through the winter until mid-April.

With the exit, a new energy era begins: opponents of nuclear energy celebrated the historic step on Saturday with festivals in Berlin and elsewhere. Several hundred people came to a “decoupling party” in Neckarwestheim and the Bund Naturschutz and Greenpeace also organized a “nuclear phase-out party” in Munich. At the Lingen nuclear power plant in Lower Saxony, hundreds of nuclear opponents demonstrated against the ANF nuclear fuel plant, also located there, and also demanded its closure.

However, at the Isar 2 nuclear power plant in Essenbach, Bavaria, there was dismay at the exit. According to the chairman of the Preussen-Elektra group, Guido Knott, the closure is an emotional moment for the employees of the furnace: “Today, after 50 years, electricity production from nuclear energy at Preussen-Elektra will end. We all like this very much and it also affects me personally.”

The group had previously explained the process in detail, which is practically the same for all three reactors: after disconnecting from the power grid, the reactor must be shut down within about fifteen minutes. Then it is “cooled”. This means that the temperature in the system is reduced to ambient temperature within approximately twelve hours. About nine hours after the shutdown, no steam should be visible above the cooling tower.

Internationally, however, it is not the first farewell to nuclear energy: Italy already abandoned nuclear energy in the aftermath of the Chernobyl reactor disaster (1986). Other countries are taking different paths. In Belgium, nuclear power plants must be able to operate until at least the end of 2035. The Swiss nuclear power plants may be used as long as they are safe; however, the construction of new facilities is prohibited. Spain’s left-wing government plans to shut down all of the country’s nuclear power plants between 2027 and 2035.

The challenges of dealing with the risky technology remain in Germany, even after moving away from nuclear power. First of all, the piles must be dismantled as soon as possible. The Atomic Energy Act states that the nuclear power plants must be dismantled immediately, says nuclear regulator Niehaus. “On the one hand, this means continuing the dismantling approval process, but also taking the first permitted steps towards dismantling.”

According to the Baden-Württemberg operator EnBW, a strategy had already been developed in 2012 for the decommissioning of their nuclear power plants. All decommissioning permits would already be in place. The operator of Isar 2, the Eon company Preussen-Elektra, on the other hand, expects the permit to be granted in the coming months and decommissioning to start in early 2024.

And then there is the question of what to do with the radioactive waste? “We have been using nuclear energy in our country for about three generations and are producing waste that will remain hazardous for 30,000 generations,” said Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens). “We pass this responsibility on to our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and many generations to come.” Germany is in the process of searching for a repository, which is a complex task for society as a whole. (con/sda/dpa)