"If an emergency situation arises": Greens do not rule out nuclear power plant operations

Should Germany get into a gas emergency, the power supply in Bavaria could have problems.

"If an emergency situation arises": Greens do not rule out nuclear power plant operations

Should Germany get into a gas emergency, the power supply in Bavaria could have problems. For such an emergency situation, extended operation of nuclear power plants would be possible, says Green politician Göring-Eckardt. However, she clearly rejects a long-term extension.

Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt does not rule out the so-called extended operation of nuclear power plants in Germany beyond the end of the year. When asked whether the Greens would allow the kiln to be stretched, the Greens politician said on the ARD program "Anne Will": "If it happens that we have a real emergency situation, that hospitals can no longer work, if If an emergency situation like this happens, then we have to talk about what about the fuel rods."

At the same time, she made it clear: "There will be no extension of the term." But there is a "special problem" in Bavaria. The question is how to deal with it. "This special problem can mean that these fuel rods only have to be burned out to make ends meet in Bavaria." But "making ends meet" does not mean that you can continue as in the past, she emphasized.

In Bavaria it is feared that the electricity supply there could not be secured in the event of a gas emergency without nuclear power. According to current law, the three remaining German nuclear power plants Neckarwestheim 2, Emsland and Isar 2 must be shut down by December 31 at the latest.

A stretching operation is not considered easy: the Federal Ministries for the Environment and Economics had come to the conclusion in an examination that the three reactors with the existing fuel rods could only continue to run after December 31st if their power generation was throttled beforehand.

Göring-Eckardt pointed out that Germany is currently exporting electricity to France. The nuclear power plants could no longer work there because they could not be cooled down. "Nuclear power, you just have to be clear about that, is an incredibly dangerous technology in different ways."