Germany's retreat from nuclear energy begins

[Susan L Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

Germany's retreat from nuclear energy begins

http://www.enn.com/news/2003-11-18/s_10497.asp



Tuesday, November 18, 2003

By Christian Charisius, Reuters



STADE, Germany — Germany switched off the first of its 19 nuclear power 

stations recently, launching what it calls the world's fastest 

withdrawal from atomic energy — but it's a policy that may still be 

reversed if the opposition takes power.



Germany's center-left government struck a deal with industry in 2000 to 

close all nuclear power plants by about 2025, the Greens making a 

phase-out a condition for forming a coalition with Chancellor Gerhard 

Schroeder's Social Democrats in 1998.



However, it is still unclear if Germany can meet the deadline and how it 

will replace atomic power, which provides one-third of its electricity, 

while also meeting commitments to cap its emissions of greenhouse gases 

produced by fossil fuels.



With little fanfare inside the control room, the Stade plant, Germany's 

second oldest, ceased operations Friday morning with the simple pressing 

of two buttons.



"All rods are engaged. We are now out," said shift leader Bernd 

Schroeder as the reactor near Hamburg shut off.



Greens Environment Minister Juergen Trittin said the closure showed 

nuclear power had no future in Germany.



"No country is pulling out as quickly as Germany. Up until 2020 one 

nuclear power plant will be closed on average every year in Germany," he 

said in a speech.



The Greens held a party in Berlin to celebrate, but operator E.ON said 

its 32-year-old reactor would have closed anyway on purely economic 

grounds without government pressure.



Like Germany, Belgium and Sweden have also announced nuclear phase-out 

plans. Sweden closed one reactor but postponed further closures after 

protests from energy-intensive industry.



France, which relies on nuclear power for 80 percent of its electricity, 

and Britain are keeping their options open to build new nuclear plants 

to replace aging ones.



Finland, the only country in western Europe expanding its atomic energy 

production, is soon to start building its fifth nuclear reactor.



"There's little sign of Europe following Germany. If anything it's going 

more in the opposite direction," said Berthold Hannes, analyst at 

consultancy A.T. Kearney.



German Friends of the Earth was also not celebrating, saying some of 

Stade's output had been shifted to other nuclear plants.



Although turning the pledge of an end to atomic power into reality might 

be difficult to realize, antinuclear protesters are still a force to be 

reckoned with in Germany, with thousands earlier this week disrupting a 

shipment of nuclear waste returning to a German storage site.



(Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Margaret Orgill in London)



Source: Reuters

-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Toll free 888-770-3073 ~ www.local-oversight.org

.....................................................





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