Germany to shut down its remaining three nuclear power plants marking the end of the nuclear era

Germany will shut down its remaining three nuclear power plants on Saturday, marking the end of the atomic age that lasted for over six decades. Germany has always had a strong anti-nuclear sentiment, which was intensified after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine and the Fukushima Daichi disaster in Japan.

The campaign to exit nuclear energy has been ongoing since the Cold War, and the German government has finally decided to close its nuclear plants, which provided only six per cent of the country’s energy last year. Germany has already shut down 16 reactors since 2003.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced last year in October that the three plants would continue to operate until April, amid a looming power crisis worsened by the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia supplies about 40 per cent of the European Union’s gas, and Germany relies on Moscow for 55 per cent of its gas needs.

Although Germany has reduced its reliance on Russian gas to 35 per cent and aims to reduce imports to zero eventually, it is considering using coal energy to compensate for the loss of nuclear plants, despite the negative environmental impact. Experts are puzzled by Germany’s plan to use coal energy when it is committed to closing all coal-fired power plants by 2038, with the first round of closures planned in 2030.

To offset the loss of nuclear plants and the energy they provided, Scholz has called for the installation of ‘four to five wind turbines a day’ over the next few years.

However, the ground reality is different, with only 551 wind turbines installed last year. The closure of all nuclear plants in Germany is a significant step towards cleaner energy, but it poses a challenge to Scholz’s administration to ensure energy stability for the public by installing alternative sources of energy.

Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said that ‘the risks of nuclear power are ultimately unmanageable,’ as she visited the Japanese plant earlier this week. The German government’s decision to phase out nuclear energy is a reflection of the public’s sentiment, which values the environment and seeks to transition towards cleaner energy sources.