BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Jens Spahn, deputy leader of the Union parliamentary group, has sparked a fresh debate on nuclear power with a proposal to potentially restart recently decommissioned nuclear power plants. The suggestion met with immediate opposition from coalition partner SPD. Meanwhile, the energy corporations responsible for dismantling the plants are staying out of the political fray, citing current legislation.

Spahn: Discussion is definitely worthwhile

Spahn floated his proposal almost in passing during a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday evening: "And by the way," the CDU politician said, he believes the possibility of restarting the plants should be examined. Other nations are investing "30, 40, 50 billion euros" to build new nuclear power plants. "We could bring our recently decommissioned plants back online for significantly less. It is definitely worth a discussion."

The Union parliamentary leader was revisiting a point from the CDU and CSU election manifesto for last year's federal election. In it, the Union advocated for an assessment of "whether, given the respective stage of decommissioning, resuming operations at the most recently shut-down nuclear power plants is still possible with justifiable technical and financial effort." However, the Union was unable to include this in the coalition agreement with the SPD.

Nuclear phase-out "irreversible"?

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) recently described the nuclear phase-out as irreversible. After EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the move away from nuclear power a strategic mistake, Merz agreed with her but labeled the previous governments' decision to exit "irreversible." "I regret it, but that is the way it is." Germany shut down its last three nuclear power plants in mid-April 2023.

The Chancellor's comments mobilized nuclear power advocates. The phase-out is by no means irreversible, according to a motion introduced in the Bundestag by the AfD parliamentary group in March. Their demand, similar to Spahn's initiative: a restart of the plants most recently taken off the grid and an immediate halt to ongoing decommissioning. Emsland, Neckarwestheim 2, Isar 2, and Brokdorf were specifically mentioned.

The German Nuclear Technology Association (KernD), successor to the former pro-nuclear interest group Deutsches Atomforum, also rejected Merz's "irreversible" statement. In a democracy, hardly anything is irreversible, wrote Managing Director Nicole Koch in a guest article for the "Berliner Zeitung." Laws can be changed, she noted, pointing to European neighbors investing in nuclear power plants.

Rejection from Environment Minister Schneider

Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) maintained his stance during the Bundestag debate on the AfD motion: "Nuclear energy is and remains a high-risk technology." He argued it is incredibly expensive, only functions with public subsidies, and is dangerous. Schneider also pointed to nuclear waste, "which will remain radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years." The renaissance of nuclear energy, he claimed, is a myth.

Spahn's proposal is now being rejected by coalition partner SPD in a similar fashion: "It is like Groundhog Day. It is not productive to keep having the same debates," Dirk Wiese, Chief Whip of the SPD parliamentary group, told the "Rheinische Post." "Our focus is on the future: on the expansion of renewable energies as an ecological, affordable, and reliable solution," Wiese said.

Greens: "Giddy-up on a dead horse"

Criticism also came from the Greens, whose political DNA includes a clear opposition to nuclear power. "Jens Spahn is shouting 'Giddy-up!' on a dead horse," said Michael Kellner, the parliamentary group's energy policy spokesperson. "Old reactors would be notoriously unreliable and particularly dangerous. Germany has no final repository. Solar energy and wind power, combined with storage, are safe, faster, and clean."

Energy corporations remain cautious

And what do the companies tasked with dismantling the recently closed reactors say? RWE, responsible for the Emsland plant in Lower Saxony, points to the legal situation and refrains from commenting on current debates. The nuclear phase-out was a political decision, and rapid, safe decommissioning is required by law, a spokesperson stated. "RWE is fulfilling this duty." Decommissioning is progressing rapidly at all sites. "Furthermore, we ask for understanding that we do not wish to participate in speculation about what might theoretically be possible."

A spokesperson for Eon subsidiary PreussenElektra, which is handling the decommissioning of Isar 2 and Brokdorf, stated: "Restarting these power plants has not been an issue for us for a long time." Work is proceeding at full speed on safe and efficient dismantling. Large components have been removed, and numerous systems have been decommissioned. "We stand by our position: from our perspective, the plants can no longer be reactivated. Therefore, we are not engaging in further considerations in this context."/jr/DP/stw

--- By Jörg Ratzsch, dpa ---