NUCLEAR POWER | 15.03.2011
Merkel shuts down seven nuclear reactors
Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Tuesday that seven of Germany's 17 nuclear power stations would be shut down, at least until the end of a three-month moratorium on the extension of the lifespans of Germany's nuclear stations.
The decision was made as a direct result of the nuclear disaster currently unfolding at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
The shutdown affects those power stations that were put into operation before the end of 1980. In addition, all of Germany's nuclear power stations would undergo new safety tests. Merkel promised that by the end of the moratorium, due to run out by June 15, "all safety questions would be answered."
"We want to use the time of the moratorium to accelerate the energy conversion [towards renewable sources]," Merkel said at the press conference. "That means we will look at the infrastructure of that conversion, analyze it, and see where there are opportunities to accelerate it. We will also look again at how we can provide more support to renewable energy."
Apart from the chancellor, the meeting was attended by Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen, Economics Minister Rainer Brüderle, as well as the state premiers of the five states where nuclear power stations are located: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony and Bavaria.
Election motives
The political opposition views Merkel's moratorium as an election campaign maneuver. It means that no decision will be made on the future of nuclear power in Germany until after five crucial state elections: in Saxony-Anhalt, on March 20, in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, all on March 27, and in Bremen on May 22.
Speaking on Monday, Sigmar Gabriel, head of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) said, "One has to ask why Merkel decided six months ago to extend the lifespans of Germany's oldest nuclear power stations by 12 years, without addressing the safety questions that she is suddenly seeing."
The effect of Japan's unfolding nuclear catastrophe on Germans could not be clearer. After the 60,000-strong protests in Baden-Württemberg on Saturday, an estimated 110,000 people demonstrated in 450 German towns on Monday against the extension of nuclear power.
Opinion polls suggest that up to 80 percent of Germans are now against Merkel's decision to extend nuclear power, while 72 percent said Germany's seven oldest reactors needed to be shut down immediately.
The seven reactors to be shut down immediately are Neckarwestheim 1, Philippsburg 1 (in Baden-Württemberg), Biblis A und B (Hesse), Isar I (Bavaria), Unterweser (Lower Saxony) and Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein). Germany's nuclear power stations currently provide around 23 percent of the country's electricity.
Author: Ben Knight (Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Nancy Isenson
Editor: Nancy Isenson
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