According to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant will serve as an emergency reserve until mid-April 2023. The FDP in the southwest does not go far enough. Environmentalists, on the other hand, are considering a lawsuit.
Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) - The announcement of reserve operation of the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant in Baden-Württemberg until mid-April 2023 caused different reactions in the south-west. According to a statement on Monday evening, Baden-Württemberg's Environment Minister Thekla Walker (Greens) saw open questions. As early as Tuesday and in the next few days, she will discuss how to proceed with the federal government and "clarify security aspects in particular".
To ensure a secure power supply in the coming winter, it could make sense to keep the two nuclear power plants available if necessary, Walker said. It is about a limited period of time and a bridging in a difficult time. "There will be no re-entry into this immensely expensive, high-risk technology," says Walker. The safety of people and the environment is the top priority in every decision.
The energy group EnBW wants to check whether its Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant can be kept operational beyond the end of the year. The company in Karlsruhe explained that the legal framework would have to be created as quickly as possible for operational readiness. "In addition, the details of the agreed procedure must be specified or clarified by the federal government, if possible in exchange with the power plant operators," it said.
"In times of rapidly increasing energy prices, we must not simply let the potential of nuclear power go unused," said Michael Theurer, head of the FDP. He welcomed Habeck's announcement, but said that it would make sense to continue operating all three German nuclear power plants until at least 2024.
Having the nuclear power plant as an emergency reserve and possibly exposing it to a high load by switching it on and off is irresponsible and must be stopped, said Sylvia Pilarsky-Grosch, the state chair of the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND). "The BUND Baden-Württemberg is therefore considering a lawsuit," said Pilarsky-Grosch.
It was actually intended that the remaining Meiler Isar 2 in Lower Bavaria, Emsland in Lower Saxony and Neckarwestheim 2 in Baden-Württemberg would go offline at the end of the year. Because Russia is supplying less gas and in view of the sharp rise in energy prices, there have been discussions in Germany for months about a possible longer operation of the three remaining nuclear power plants.
On Monday evening, when presenting the results of a second grid stress test, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) announced that two of the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany should serve as emergency reserves until mid-April - including Neckarwestheim.
