On a tour of the last nuclear power plants, environmentalists and opponents of nuclear power celebrate the exit and warn against the current debate on the lifetime. Their stations bring back memories of heated arguments and an ongoing problem.
Neckarwestheim (dpa/lsw) - Opponents of nuclear power stopped in Neckarwestheim, one of the three remaining German reactors, on Saturday as part of a multi-week anti-nuclear bike tour through southern Germany. Supported by local activists, they want to demonstrate there for the maintenance of the nuclear phase-out. The bike tour organized by the anti-nuclear organization ".aussendung" together with initiatives and environmental organizations is part of a 2,400-kilometer-long nationwide protest march. Since July 9, it has been leading participants past nuclear power plants that have been shut down, prevented and still in operation.
So far, the tour has stopped at the Belgian Meiler Tihange, in Aachen, Brokdorf and Gorleben as well as Kahl am Main and Biblis. After Neckarwestheim, the route continues via Gundremmingen, Fessenheim in Alsace and Whyl am Kaiserstuhl to Freiburg. The aim is to send a clear signal against attempts to make nuclear power socially acceptable again, said Armin Simon from ".aussendung". According to the Neckarwestheim municipality, between 50 and 100 participants are expected on Saturday.
A debate has been going on for months about an energy crisis in Germany due to the massively throttled gas supplies from Russia and the lack of alternatives to date. In view of this, the Federal Ministry of Economics, which is led by the Greens, ordered a stress test to clarify how the energy supply can be guaranteed in winter. Scenarios are calculated, including those with and without nuclear energy.
According to the applicable Atomic Energy Act, the remaining German piles Isar 2 in Bavaria, Neckarwestheim and Emsland in Lower Saxony would have to go offline after December 31, 2022. An amendment to the law in the Bundestag is also needed for the so-called stretching operation, i.e. the continued use of the current fuel rods. Critics of nuclear power warn of incalculable safety risks with only very low energy yields because the reactors are more than 30 years old. Environmental groups have therefore already announced lawsuits if the nuclear phase-out does not take place by the end of the year.
After the rally in Neckarwestheim, people demonstrated on Sunday in Ludwigsburg (12 p.m.) and Stuttgart (4:45 p.m.). They want to end the tour in Freiburg on September 3rd.
