Germany’s “Hot Topic”

48% of all Germans do not want to increase the life-span of Nuclear Power plants at all, 29% are okay with an extension for a maximum of ten years, the likes of which was proposed by Environmental Minister Norbert Röttgen (CDU) in opposition to most of his colleagues. At least 77% of the German population are opposed to a longer life span that includes 15 or more years of future service, calculated TNS Emnid, one of Germany’s many fine research institutions.
Current legislature states that the last one of currently 17 running atomic reactors has to be turned off by 2022 – the coalition agreement for the current government however states that said power plants shall be left running for a longer time, though it has not solidified this beyond the vague “longer”.

Meanwhile, the question of atomic energy is not only dividing the government, he also seperates the conservative parts of the CDU from the voting people. At the end of September, the cabinet has vowed to pass the cornerstones of the long awaited energy concept, which will contain the perspectives until 2050, and will contain much more then just the lifetime of Nuclear Reactors – after all, nuclear power only contributes to eleven percent of the German energy production. The people’s opinion on this matter is driven by scepticism and worries of a catastrophe and the problem of ultimate nuclear waste disposal.

Voices for a longer lifespan of nuclear power in Germany have compelling arguments: Every form of energy solution is also a question of location – the industry is dependant on affordable energy solutions, Germans are already paying the highest prices for energy in Europe. Still, more then half of Germans are ready to pay up to ten percent more for energy from renewable sources then they do for nuclear power. This seems to be unrelated to the income of the person asked: Even in homes with only an income of as low as 1000-1500€ before taxes, 51% are willing to pay larger sums for ecological solutions.

The potential budgetary problems for the state are enormous – the federal ministry of research estimated the cost of deconstructing current nuclear power plants at about 5.4 billion Euros in until the year 2035. Together with the already occurring costs this will add up to about 10.6 billion Euro. Reasons for this are found mostly in the high interim and final storage costs.

The single most costly project in this area will be the clearance and closure of the “Asse” pit – an estimated two billion Euro project to facilitate ultimate storage capacity within the federal republic.

On a sidenote: Germany’s southern neighbour, Austria, has been resisting the temptation of the benefits of nuclear power ever since it’s inception, and has provided legislature that bars both the proliferation of nuclear armaments and the peaceful use in power plants.