April 16, 2023, Baden-Württemberg, Neckarwestheim: Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Station. With the disconnection from the power grid of the nuclear power plants Isar 2, Neckarwestheim and Emsland on Saturday, the era of business power generation from nuclear power plants in Germany ended.
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From Sunday, April 16, Germany not produces electricity from nuclear power plants.
The Emsland, Isar II and Neckarwestheim II nuclear power plants in Germany were expected to shut. The country has announced plans phase out of nuclear energy in 2011. In the autumn of 2022, because the Ukrainian War limited access to energy, especially in Europe, Germany decided to maintain these existing nuclear reactors running for a couple of additional months to extend supplies.
“It was a highly anticipated motion. The German government prolonged the lifetime of these plants by several months, but never planned anything more.” David Victorprofessor of innovation and public policy at UC San Diego, he told CNBC.
Reactions to the shutdown ranged from dismay that Germany would shut down a clean source of energy production while the worldwide response to anthropogenic climate change continues to fall short, to celebration that the country will avoid any nuclear accidents like people who have occurred elsewhere Europe. world.
“The entire thing is meaningless”
A bunch of esteemed scientists, including two Nobel laureates and professors from MIT and Columbia, made a last-minute appeal in an open letter published April 14 on the nuclear weapons group’s website: Replaneiststo maintain the reactors running.
“As a result of the threat that climate change poses to life on our planet and the plain energy crisis that Germany and Europe are facing as a result of the unavailability of Russian natural gas, we urge you to proceed operating the last remaining German nuclear power plants” the letter states.
The Emsland, Isar II and Neckarwestheim II power stations have provided electricity to greater than 10 million German households, the open letter reads. That is 1 / 4 of the population.
“It’s hugely disappointing when a secure, low-carbon energy source like a nuclear power source was available 24/7 and will run for one more 40 years.” Henry Prestonspokesperson for World Nuclear Associationhe told CNBC. “The German nuclear industry is world-class. All three reactors that were shut down over the weekend performed exceptionally well.
April 16, 2023, Lower Saxony, Lingen: View of the disused cooling tower of the Emsland nuclear power plant. With the disconnection of the Isar 2, Neckarwestheim and Emsland nuclear power plants from the power grid on Saturday, the era of business power generation from nuclear power plants in Germany ended.
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Despite the shutdown, some segments of nuclear industrial processes will proceed to operate. “Germany’s nuclear sector will proceed to be a frontrunner within the broader nuclear energy supply chain in areas akin to fuel fabrication and decommissioning,” Preston told CNBC.
While the open letter did not keep nuclear reactors open, it highlights a key reason why nuclear power has been a part of the world’s energy talks recently, following a generational hiatus in constructing nuclear power plants: climate change.
Generating electricity with nuclear reactors doesn’t produce greenhouse gases. And as global climate response efforts proceed to fall wanting emissions targets, nuclear power is being reconsidered.
“In fact, many individuals within the nuclear industry are upset that a government that cares a lot about climate change is shutting down huge zero-carbon electricity sources,” Victor told CNBC.
This view was repeated by Hans von Storcha climate scientist on the Geesthacht Institute for Coastal Research in Germany and a signatory to the open letter, he told CNBC.
“While this can be a legitimate decision, it isn’t a sensible decision,” Storch told CNBC. “This phase-out of nuclear power at existing power plants is resulting in a rise in greenhouse gas emissions in Germany, though one other political decision should prioritize rapid decarbonisation.”
“For me as a climatologist, the entire thing is meaningless,” Storch told CNBC.
Supporters of the anti-nuclear movement gather to have a good time the closure of Germany’s last nuclear power plants on April 15, 2023 in Munich, Germany. Emsland, Neckarwestheim 2 and Isar 2 are the last three operational nuclear power plants in Germany, as a result of shut down tonight. They were originally scheduled to shut on December 31, 2022, however the German government coalition prolonged their operation as a result of the turbulence within the energy market resulting from the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. The closure of the plant is a historic chapter in German history and is well known by the decades-old German anti-nuclear movement.
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Fear of accidents and give attention to renewables
The German government claims that by shutting down nuclear reactors it makes the country safer.
“Abandoning nuclear energy makes Germany safer and avoids additional high-level radioactive waste. The risks related to nuclear energy are ultimately unmanageable. No insurance on this planet covers the possibly catastrophic extent of injury brought on by a nuclear accident,” the spokesman said Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection in Germany he told CNBC.
On June 30, 2011, “the Nuclear Weapons Decommissioning Act was passed by a broad, nonpartisan majority,” a spokesman told CNBC.
Volker Quaschningprofessor of renewable energy on the University of Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlinsupports Germany shutting down its nuclear reactors as a result of the chance of an accident.
“Nuclear energy is a dangerous technology. Through the Chernobyl reactor accident, Germany was affected by radioactive fallout. A reactor failure in Germany would render large parts of the country uninhabitable. With global uncertainty, the risks related to nuclear power are also increasing, Quaschning told CNBC.
As well as, radioactive waste management “continues to be not resolved in Germany,” Quaschning told CNBC. “No person in Germany wants a highly radioactive waste dump nearby.”
As an alternative, the European country says it’s specializing in developing wind and solar power generation. By 2030, Germany goals to generate 80 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources akin to wind and solar. “We are currently introducing the suitable rules and adjusting the vital regulations,” a spokesman for the German government told CNBC.
Shutting down nuclear reactors opens the door to renewable energy sources, which is able to grow to be the long run of energy, Niklas Höhne, professor of greenhouse gas mitigation On Wageningen University within the Netherlandshe told CNBC.
“Within the German context, phasing out nuclear power is nice for the climate in the long run. Ensures investment in renewable energy; renewables might be much faster, cheaper and safer than the expansion of nuclear power,” Höhne told CNBC. .
Nuclear power is usually costlier than wind and solar power, Quaschning said, adding that “there are no real advantages to nuclear anymore.”
“Nuclear power plants are an obstacle to the energy transition. They are not able to stop-and-go operation and can’t really compensate for the power fluctuations that occur when using solar and wind power. Germany desires to expand solar and wind power in a short time in the following few years, now could be a very good time to shut down nuclear reactors to make way for renewable energy,” he said.
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