Questions and Answers: Is nuclear power the savior in times of need?

Should the remaining three German nuclear power plants remain online beyond the end of the year? This is what the Union and the FDP are demanding.

Questions and Answers: Is nuclear power the savior in times of need?

Should the remaining three German nuclear power plants remain online beyond the end of the year? This is what the Union and the FDP are demanding. The Greens are against it. One thing is clear: If the nuclear power plants are to produce electricity again in the coming year, hurry is required.

From the point of view of the Union and the FDP, the federal government is in the process of allowing a great stupidity: While everyone will save energy in the coming winter, the remaining three nuclear power plants will go offline. And with them at least six percent of the power generation in Germany. In times when every kilowatt hour counts, that's a lot. Can we allow this? Do we still need nuclear power plants in the coming year? Questions and answers.

Can the nuclear power plants continue to operate or not?

Basically yes. Although the Federal Ministry of Economics presented the hurdles to be more or less insurmountable, there are now many dissenting voices. The Association of the Nuclear Industry, KernD, contradicted the paper on all points and declared continued operation possible. A few legal questions would have to be clarified and the extra work would have to be made palatable to the staff. In addition, safety must be guaranteed - TÜV Süd gave the green light. Nothing to the contrary has been heard from the operators RWE and PreussenElektra either. An element of uncertainty is still a major security review that would have been pending without the nuclear phase-out in 2019. This would have to be made up for in the event of an extension of the term. It is unclear whether this would work at full capacity during operation or whether the piles would even have to be shut down for the time being, says engineer Professor Harald Bradke ntv.de. He is responsible for energy issues at the large technical association VDI.

What does a stretching operation bring?

At least a little something. Stretch operation can mean two things: Firstly, that the reactors are now shutting down a little so that there will still be fuel left over for the coming year. Or that the reactors continue to work normally until the end of the year and then still have some uranium left. According to a report by TÜV Süd, this is the case with the Isar 2 kiln in Munich. Accordingly, he should even be able to continue until August. According to KernD, the decision about a stretching operation should be made soon. The association points out that the nuclear power plants are currently running at high loads in order to save gas now. There is not much left for a stretching operation in the coming year. If the reactors are to run longer, new fuel elements would be needed.

Where do you get new fuel rods for a longer service life? Who supplies the uranium?

Probably Canada. So far, some of the uranium has come from Russia. But according to KernD, it would not be a problem to get it elsewhere, as association spokesman Nicolas Wendler says to ntv.de. In fact, Germany is not dependent on Russia for uranium. Uranium can easily be obtained on the world market, be it from Canada, Australia or Namibia. Other industry representatives also confirm this to ntv.de. Then fuel rods would have to be made from the uranium - that could also happen in Western Europe, according to Wendler. Fuel rod manufacturer Framatome informed ntv.de that production would start immediately as soon as an order was received.

How long would it take to produce fuel elements?

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, 18 to 36 months under normal circumstances. But the circumstances are currently not normal, so that RWE, for example, has already announced that it would also be possible in 12 to 24 months. The VDI assumes 12 to 15 months in an accelerated process, as Bradke, energy expert of the VDI, says ntv.de. KernD also believes it is possible to produce fuel elements within a year. However, it would not be much faster, as spokesman Wendler says, who refers to the specialist companies in his association. The association is therefore urging that a decision be made on extending the term as soon as possible. If the Go came now, the fuel elements might be available as early as next summer.

What does nuclear power bring us in the gas crisis?

Not much. It is true that gas is also used to generate electricity, which is why politicians from the Union and the FDP called for this to stop immediately at the weekend. However, nuclear power can only replace the gas flow to a small extent - according to the VDI only up to 1.5 percent. Because a large part of the gas-fired power plants does something that nuclear power plants cannot do: they compensate for short-term, sometimes within a few minutes, peaks in demand on the electricity market. Other gas-fired power plants keep the power grid stable. For example, if more electricity is required in the south, a power plant in the north shuts down while a gas-fired power plant starts up in the south. Since there are no major north-south power lines, the current cannot simply flow north-south. That can't be replaced by nuclear power plants, because you can't just turn them up or down. In addition, a number of gas-fired power plants operate combined heat and power. This means that they simultaneously produce electricity and heat for private households, but also for industry. This cannot be separated - since the heat is needed, you have to accept the conversion into electricity.

So why should nuclear power plants continue to be used at all?

Union, FDP and also KernD argue that the Federal Republic should use all energy sources that are available - even if it only brings little gas savings. In addition, the price of electricity is already very high. If part of the offer is lost, CSU General Secretary Markus Blume said on Deutschlandfunk, for example, that the price will inevitably rise. VDI man Bradke fears that in the coming winter people could switch to electric fan heaters en masse to save gas. That could overload the power grid, and dangerous blackouts could no longer be ruled out. "It would make sense to have something up your sleeve," he says to ntv.de.

There is also the European dimension: in recent winters, Germany has regularly exported electricity to France because it is often used for heating there. About half of the nuclear power plants there are currently out of operation due to safety deficiencies and will only partially be able to be connected to the grid again by winter. Before France restarts unsafe reactors, the question arises as to whether it would not be better to extend the lifespan of German nuclear power plants, says Bradke.

Then there is the question of Bayern: It could be that gas will be scarce there first. This has to do with the fact that Austria itself could tap a large gas storage facility that is otherwise intended for Bavaria. Furthermore, the gas that is fed into the grid in northern Germany may not be sufficient to supply southern Germany. Then the necessary gas power generation would also come under pressure and Bavaria could have an energy problem. The AKW Isar 2 could at least help with the base load. Especially since there are only two coal-fired power plants in Bavaria and there are no lines to transport large amounts of coal-fired electricity to Bavaria from other parts of Germany or Europe.

Isn't it also possible without nuclear power plants?

"Yes!" shout the Greens at this point. They are banking on speeding up the expansion of renewable energies and sourcing gas from other sources, such as in liquid form from Qatar or the USA. In addition, Climate Protection Minister Habeck has allowed coal-fired power plants to be taken out of reserve in order to reduce gas-fired power generation and secure the energy supply. In order to get the expansion of wind power and Co going, a number of decisions have already been made, for example in the Easter package. In many places, for example in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, the strict distance rules are to be relaxed. On the other hand, it used to take around seven years for a wind turbine to be approved. Even if this were to happen much faster in the future, it would be risky to rely on it. In addition, there is no guarantee that liquid gas will be available in sufficient quantities in the winter after next.

Will the Greens still give way?

That is the question. Habeck would first like to wait for the current stress test. It is unclear when it will end. A ministry spokeswoman said at the end of July that it would be ready in the coming weeks. If it then came out that nuclear power plants would help southern Germany in an energy crisis, the minister would have good arguments for it. That would be painful for the party in any case, because the fight against nuclear power is one of its founding myths and heart issues. A lot has changed, though: according to the trend barometer from RTL and ntv, 55 percent of Greens voters are in favor of a longer term. In total it is 75 percent.