Germany closed the last three operating nuclear power plants

On the night from Saturday to Sunday in Germany, the last three operating nuclear power plants were shut down. The country took the course to completely abandon nuclear energy in 2011, after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in Japan. He still causes discussions among German politicians and in society as a whole.

The first nuclear power plant in Germany began operating in 1961. In the 2000s, there were 19 nuclear power plants in the country, which produced up to a third of all electricity. After the accident at Fukushima, Angela Merkel’s government declared that nuclear energy is too dangerous and adopted a plan to phase it out.

The last three reactors at the power plants “Isar 2” in Bavaria, “Nekarvestheim 2” in Baden-Württemberg and “Emsland” in Lower Saxony were planned to be shut down by the end of last year. However, due to the energy crisis caused by the cessation of supplies of energy carriers from Russia as a result of the sanctions imposed by the European Union, their operation was extended somewhat.

Demonstrations of both supporters and opponents of abandoning the nuclear power plant were held in German cities on Saturday and Sunday. There is also no consensus among politicians on this topic. The “Greens” party, to which German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke also belongs, claims that the risks of nuclear power cannot be controlled, and that abandoning it will accelerate the transition to ecologically clean renewable energy sources.

Representatives of the Free Democratic Party of Germany, to which the Minister of Finance Christian Lindner belongs, on the contrary, believe that abandoning the nuclear power plant will lead to an increase in the price of electricity. In their opinion, even in the case of a complete shutdown of all current nuclear power plants, Germany should not stop research in the field of nuclear energy and, perhaps, scientists will be able to develop safer and more effective solutions in this area.

A survey conducted by the sociological institute YouGov shows that almost two-thirds of Germans do not approve of giving up the “peaceful atom”. 32 percent of residents call for the extension of the NPP’s operation period for a limited period, and another 33 percent – even for an unlimited period. Only 26 percent of respondents consider it correct to immediately shut down the remaining nuclear power plants in Germany.