Germany to shut down all its nuclear energy plants by 2022
Source: Agencies |
May 31, 2011, Tuesday
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GERMANY is to shut down all the country's nuclear power plants by 2022, its governing coalition said yesterday. The decision, prompted by Japan's nuclear disaster, will make Germany the first major industrialized nation to go nuclear-free in years.
The decision marks a remarkable about-face for Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right government, which only late last year pushed through a plan to extend the life span of the country's 17 reactors - with the last scheduled to go offline in 2036.
But Merkel now said industrialized, technologically advanced Japan's helplessness in the face of the Fukushima disaster made her rethink the risks.
"We want the electricity of the future to be safe, reliable and economically viable," Merkel said yesterday after overnight negotiations among the governing parties. "We have to follow a new path."
While Germany was already set to abandon nuclear energy eventually, the decision - which still requires parliamentary approval - dramatically speeds up that process.
Germany's seven oldest reactors, already taken off the grid pending safety inspections following the March catastrophe at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, will remain offline permanently, Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said.
The country's energy supply chain "needs a new architecture," necessitating huge efforts in boosting renewable energies, efficiency gains and overhauling the electricity grid, Merkel said.
The determination of Germany, Europe's largest economy, to gradually replace its nuclear power with renewable energy sources makes it stand out among the world's major industrialized nations. Among other G8 nations, only Italy has abandoned nuclear power, which was voted down in a referendum after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Until March - before the seven reactors were taken offline - just under a quarter of Germany's electricity was produced by nuclear power, about the same share as in the United States.
Energy from wind, solar and hydroelectric power currently produces about 17 percent of the country's electricity, but the government aims to boost its share to around 50 percent in the coming decades.
Many Germans have vehemently opposed nuclear power since Chernobyl. Tens of thousands of people repeatedly took to the streets after Fukushima to urge the government to shut all reactors quickly.
A decade ago, a center-left government first penned a plan to abandon the technology by 2021 because of its inherent risks. But Merkel's government last year amended the plan to extend the plants' lifetime by an average of 12 years - a decision that became a political liability after Fukushima was hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami.
Merkel's government ordered the country's seven oldest reactors shut down four days after Fukushima.
Switzerland said last week that it plans to shut down its reactors gradually once they reach their average lifespan of 50 years, which would mean taking the last plant off the grid in 2034.
The decision marks a remarkable about-face for Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right government, which only late last year pushed through a plan to extend the life span of the country's 17 reactors - with the last scheduled to go offline in 2036.
But Merkel now said industrialized, technologically advanced Japan's helplessness in the face of the Fukushima disaster made her rethink the risks.
"We want the electricity of the future to be safe, reliable and economically viable," Merkel said yesterday after overnight negotiations among the governing parties. "We have to follow a new path."
While Germany was already set to abandon nuclear energy eventually, the decision - which still requires parliamentary approval - dramatically speeds up that process.
Germany's seven oldest reactors, already taken off the grid pending safety inspections following the March catastrophe at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, will remain offline permanently, Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said.
The country's energy supply chain "needs a new architecture," necessitating huge efforts in boosting renewable energies, efficiency gains and overhauling the electricity grid, Merkel said.
The determination of Germany, Europe's largest economy, to gradually replace its nuclear power with renewable energy sources makes it stand out among the world's major industrialized nations. Among other G8 nations, only Italy has abandoned nuclear power, which was voted down in a referendum after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Until March - before the seven reactors were taken offline - just under a quarter of Germany's electricity was produced by nuclear power, about the same share as in the United States.
Energy from wind, solar and hydroelectric power currently produces about 17 percent of the country's electricity, but the government aims to boost its share to around 50 percent in the coming decades.
Many Germans have vehemently opposed nuclear power since Chernobyl. Tens of thousands of people repeatedly took to the streets after Fukushima to urge the government to shut all reactors quickly.
A decade ago, a center-left government first penned a plan to abandon the technology by 2021 because of its inherent risks. But Merkel's government last year amended the plan to extend the plants' lifetime by an average of 12 years - a decision that became a political liability after Fukushima was hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami.
Merkel's government ordered the country's seven oldest reactors shut down four days after Fukushima.
Switzerland said last week that it plans to shut down its reactors gradually once they reach their average lifespan of 50 years, which would mean taking the last plant off the grid in 2034.
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