German govt wants nuclear exit by 2022
Germany: Germany will shut all its nuclear reactors by 2022,
parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government agreed on
Monday, in a reaction to Japan’s Fukushima disaster that marks a drastic
policy reversal. As expected, the coalition wants to keep the eight
oldest of Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors permanently shut. Seven were
closed temporarily in March, just after the earthquake and tsunami hit
Fukushima. One has been off the grid for years.
Another six will be taken offline by 2021, Environment Minister
Norbert Roettgen said early on Monday after late-night talks in the
chancellor’s office between leaders of the centre-right coalition.
The remaining three reactors, Germany’s newest, will stay open for
another year until 2022 as a safety buffer to ensure no disruption to
power supply, he said.
Merkel backtracked in March on an unpopular decision just months
earlier to extend the life of ageing nuclear stations in Germany, where
the majority of voters oppose atomic energy.
Her Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian sister party the
Christian Social Union (CSU) and junior coalition partner the Free
Democrats (FDP) met on Sunday after an ethics commission ended its
deliberations this weekend. Some politicians had wanted a clause
allowing for the agreement to be revised in future.
The FDP had wanted no firm date but rather a flexible window for the
exit, plus the option of bringing back at least one of the seven oldest
nuclear reactors in case of emergency.
The coalition agreed to keep one of the older reactors as a “cold
reserve” for 2013, if the transition to renewable energies cannot meet
winter demand and if fossil fuels do not suffice to make up for a
potential shortfall.
Berlin, Mondaqy, The Dawn |