Twenty scientists wrote a letter to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and urged him not to shut down the remaining reactors of the country’s three nuclear power plants. The full closure of the stations is scheduled for April 15.
“While the German Union for the Conservation of Nature wants to celebrate the shutdown of Germany’s last three nuclear power plants with ‘colorful shutdowns’, leading climatologists and leading researchers are calling for the exact opposite: the continued operation of the three Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2 reactors,” writes the German Die Welt.
In an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, twenty scientists claim that the three reactors, with an annual production of 32.7 billion kWh, have provided more than ten million households in Germany with clean electricity. They believe that continuing to work will still reduce emissions by up to 30 million tons of CO₂ per year compared to coal-fired power.
“For these reasons, we urge you, in the interest of the citizens of Germany, Europe and the world, to reconsider Germany’s nuclear phase-out plans and continue to use nuclear power plants that are still available,” the letter says. “Nuclear power in Germany can clearly contribute to mitigating the energy crisis and achieving Germany’s climate goals.”
Among the signatories is a Nobel Prize winner in physics Claus von Klitzing from the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research and Nobel Laureate in Physics Stephen Chuwho was the US Secretary of Energy Barack Obama.
The open letter was also signed by numerous leading climatologists, including James Hansen from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Kerry Emanuel from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), adds the publication.
In the best of times, 19 nuclear power plants covered between 25 and 30% of Germany’s electricity needs. At the same time, their stop is compensated mainly by the more active use of coal and gas power plants. Germany has the highest CO₂ emissions in electricity generation after Poland and the Czech Republic.
The German government wants to almost double the share of renewables by 2030 and offset fluctuations in wind and solar generation by building about 50 new gas-fired power plants in the 500 MW class.
Die Welt noted that, under the influence of the energy crisis, many countries, unlike Germany, extended the life of their nuclear power plants. And in France, Great Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, they plan to build new nuclear power plants.
