Düsseldorf/Berlin (dpa/lnw) - The new North Rhine-Westphalian Minister for the Environment, Oliver Krischer, has clearly spoken out against sticking to nuclear power because of the energy crisis. "It's not the time for any games. Nuclear power is not the answer when there is an impending gas shortage," said the Green Party on Monday to the German Press Agency in Düsseldorf. "In addition to the diversification of the gas supply routes, energy saving and the expansion of renewable energies are the answer of the time."
Krischer was primarily reacting to statements made by Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (CDU). He had said in the ARD "Morgenmagazin" that the speed limit makes a relatively small difference in energy consumption, "but if the Greens say that would be a national compromise, we will use nuclear energy for half a year longer in the If there is a shortage, I think we should also be able to talk about a speed limit."
Krischer commented on this with the words: "It's a shame that the Union has still not found its way back to a serious political mode at the federal level."
However, the federal government leaves a gap open for the continued operation of the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany beyond the end of the year. A government spokeswoman said on Monday in Berlin that the issue of nuclear power plants had not been an ideological issue for the federal government from the start, but a purely technical one. A spokeswoman for Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said that decisions would be made on the basis of facts and analyses. There is now the second stress test calculation that is being made to check out other scenarios again.
According to current law, the three nuclear power plants Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2 must be shut down by December 31, 2022 at the latest. Economics Minister Habeck and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) had advised against longer operating times for nuclear power plants in a test report in March. It was said at the time that a small contribution to the energy supply would be opposed to major economic, legal and safety risks.
