{"id":1820181,"date":"2026-03-11T13:06:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1820181"},"modified":"2026-03-11T13:06:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:06:33","slug":"is-germanys-nuclear-exit-a-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1820181","title":{"rendered":"Is Germany’s nuclear exit a mistake?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/74501283_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5AAU7<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
Germany has decommissioned its nuclear power plantsImage: Christine Koenig\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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At a nuclear summit near Paris earlier this week, European\u00a0Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/a> described the transition from nuclear energy undertaken by some EU\u00a0countries as a “strategic mistake.”<\/a> Nuclear power, she said, is a “reliable, affordable source of low-emission electricity.”\u00a0 She announced new financial assistance for nuclear power plants.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen’s words reverberated in Germany, which switched off its last nuclear reactor in 2023.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen’s father, Ernst Albrecht, like his daughter\u00a0a member of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)<\/a>, was the head of government of the state of Lower Saxony<\/a> in the 1970s and a staunch supporter of nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

H\u00a0failed in his attempt to establish a final repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste in the east of his state, however. The village of Gorleben, which had been pinpointed as the place where that repository was to be built, became a symbol of the struggle of hundreds of thousands of people against nuclear energy. The repository was never built.<\/p>\n

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Is Germany’s nuclear exit a mistake?<\/h2>\n

No German nuclear plants since 2023<\/h2>\n

Von der Leyen’s appeal for a return to nuclear energy is meeting with mixed reactions at best in Berlin.<\/p>\n

From 1961 onward, a total of 37 reactors within Germany supplied up to 30% of the nationy’s electricity. The country began phasing out nuclear power 15 years ago, following the disaster in Fukushima<\/a>, Japan, on March 11, 2011. The last German nuclear power plant was taken offline in 2023.<\/p>\n

Since then, there has been a recurring debate in Germany about whether a return to nuclear power would be sensible, given the fluctuation in the production of renewables like solar and wind energy and especially given the scarcity of oil and gas imports during\u00a0international crises such as the war in Ukraine or the US-Israeli war on Iran and subsequent escalations across\u00a0the Middle East.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday\u00a0Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a>, himself a member of the CDU,\u00a0said previous federal governments had decided to phase out nuclear energy\u00a0and rolling back that\u00a0decision was not possible. “I regret this,” he said, “but it is the way it is, and we are now concentrating on the energy policy we have.”<\/p>\n

Though the CDU and allied Bavarian Christian Social Union support\u00a0nuclear energy, Merz also knows that a rollback would need to find a majority in the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament. And and the far-right Alternative for Germany<\/a> (AfD) party’s votes would be needed to make up the numbers. Merz has said he would not work with the AfD.<\/p>\n

SPD\u00a0rejects new nuclear power plants<\/h2>\n

The conservatives’ junior coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats<\/a> (SPD), have rejected von der Leyen’s proposal to return to nuclear energy: Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, of the SPD, saidt nuclear energy had already cost taxpayers billions.\u00a0“If a risky technology is still dependent on state support after three-quarters of a century, and better alternatives have long existed, then consequences should be drawn,” Schneider said.<\/p>\n

Schneider also rejected the suggestion to focus primarily on mobile reactors, so-called Small Modular Reactors\u00a0(SMRs): “These small nuclear power plants have been in the works for decades, but there still has not been a breakthrough, and there is still a struggle to secure subsidies,” he said.<\/p>\n

Markus Krebber, the CEO of Germany’s largest electricity provider, RWE, recently rejected the idea of \u200b\u200bsmall reactors.\u00a0“As things stand, an investment in SMRs is not feasible for a private company,” Krebber told the newsportal Pol\u00edtico. He said no supplier worldwide could commit to construction times at fixed and negotiated costs.\u00a0Companies will not provide funding for small reactors, Krebber said..<\/p>\n

\n

Nuclear plants: Billion-dollar graves? <\/h2>\n

France’s nuclear alliance with 15 EU states<\/h2>\n

Many EU countries are considering expanding nuclear power. France still operates 57 reactors. The French have formed a group of 15 EU states advocating for new nuclear power plants. This group includes countries such as Sweden and Italy. Other countries, like Germany, Spain, and Austria, have permanently abandoned nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

In Germany, the disaster in Chernobyl<\/a> in 1986 prompted a rethink of nuclear energy. Fukushima, Japan, on March 11, 2011, prompted the gradual phase-out of nuclear power plants. The Green Party<\/a>, founded in West Germany in 1980 campaigned heavily against nuclear power. After they entered in a government with the Social Democrats, they successfully pushed for the gradual exit in 2000.<\/p>\n

That was rolled back when the conservatives returned to power in a coalition with the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) and in 2010 decided to extend the operating lives of German reactors.<\/p>\n

But the tides turned again: Following an earthquake and tsunami, a meltdown occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, a so-called “super-meltdown” and Angela Merkel herself oversaw the return to the exit strategy. And that decision stands to this day.<\/p>\n

This article was originally written in German.<\/em><\/p>\n

While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

\n

At a nuclear summit near Paris earlier this week, European\u00a0Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/a> described the transition from nuclear energy undertaken by some EU\u00a0countries as a “strategic mistake.”<\/a> Nuclear power, she said, is a “reliable, affordable source of low-emission electricity.”\u00a0 She announced new financial assistance for nuclear power plants.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen’s words reverberated in Germany, which switched off its last nuclear reactor in 2023.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen’s father, Ernst Albrecht, like his daughter\u00a0a member of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)<\/a>, was the head of government of the state of Lower Saxony<\/a> in the 1970s and a staunch supporter of nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

H\u00a0failed in his attempt to establish a final repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste in the east of his state, however. The village of Gorleben, which had been pinpointed as the place where that repository was to be built, became a symbol of the struggle of hundreds of thousands of people against nuclear energy. The repository was never built.<\/p>\n

\n

Is Germany’s nuclear exit a mistake?<\/h2>\n

No German nuclear plants since 2023<\/h2>\n

Von der Leyen’s appeal for a return to nuclear energy is meeting with mixed reactions at best in Berlin.<\/p>\n

From 1961 onward, a total of 37 reactors within Germany supplied up to 30% of the nationy’s electricity. The country began phasing out nuclear power 15 years ago, following the disaster in Fukushima<\/a>, Japan, on March 11, 2011. The last German nuclear power plant was taken offline in 2023.<\/p>\n

Since then, there has been a recurring debate in Germany about whether a return to nuclear power would be sensible, given the fluctuation in the production of renewables like solar and wind energy and especially given the scarcity of oil and gas imports during\u00a0international crises such as the war in Ukraine or the US-Israeli war on Iran and subsequent escalations across\u00a0the Middle East.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday\u00a0Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a>, himself a member of the CDU,\u00a0said previous federal governments had decided to phase out nuclear energy\u00a0and rolling back that\u00a0decision was not possible. “I regret this,” he said, “but it is the way it is, and we are now concentrating on the energy policy we have.”<\/p>\n

Though the CDU and allied Bavarian Christian Social Union support\u00a0nuclear energy, Merz also knows that a rollback would need to find a majority in the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament. And and the far-right Alternative for Germany<\/a> (AfD) party’s votes would be needed to make up the numbers. Merz has said he would not work with the AfD.<\/p>\n

SPD\u00a0rejects new nuclear power plants<\/h2>\n

The conservatives’ junior coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats<\/a> (SPD), have rejected von der Leyen’s proposal to return to nuclear energy: Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, of the SPD, saidt nuclear energy had already cost taxpayers billions.\u00a0“If a risky technology is still dependent on state support after three-quarters of a century, and better alternatives have long existed, then consequences should be drawn,” Schneider said.<\/p>\n

Schneider also rejected the suggestion to focus primarily on mobile reactors, so-called Small Modular Reactors\u00a0(SMRs): “These small nuclear power plants have been in the works for decades, but there still has not been a breakthrough, and there is still a struggle to secure subsidies,” he said.<\/p>\n

Markus Krebber, the CEO of Germany’s largest electricity provider, RWE, recently rejected the idea of \u200b\u200bsmall reactors.\u00a0“As things stand, an investment in SMRs is not feasible for a private company,” Krebber told the newsportal Pol\u00edtico. He said no supplier worldwide could commit to construction times at fixed and negotiated costs.\u00a0Companies will not provide funding for small reactors, Krebber said..<\/p>\n

\n

Nuclear plants: Billion-dollar graves? <\/h2>\n

France’s nuclear alliance with 15 EU states<\/h2>\n

Many EU countries are considering expanding nuclear power. France still operates 57 reactors. The French have formed a group of 15 EU states advocating for new nuclear power plants. This group includes countries such as Sweden and Italy. Other countries, like Germany, Spain, and Austria, have permanently abandoned nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

In Germany, the disaster in Chernobyl<\/a> in 1986 prompted a rethink of nuclear energy. Fukushima, Japan, on March 11, 2011, prompted the gradual phase-out of nuclear power plants. The Green Party<\/a>, founded in West Germany in 1980 campaigned heavily against nuclear power. After they entered in a government with the Social Democrats, they successfully pushed for the gradual exit in 2000.<\/p>\n

That was rolled back when the conservatives returned to power in a coalition with the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) and in 2010 decided to extend the operating lives of German reactors.<\/p>\n

But the tides turned again: Following an earthquake and tsunami, a meltdown occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, a so-called “super-meltdown” and Angela Merkel herself oversaw the return to the exit strategy. And that decision stands to this day.<\/p>\n

This article was originally written in German.<\/em><\/p>\n

While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At a nuclear summit near Paris earlier this week, European\u00a0Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/a> described the transition from nuclear energy undertaken by some EU\u00a0countries as a “strategic mistake.”<\/a> Nuclear power, she said, is a “reliable, affordable source of low-emission electricity.”\u00a0 She announced new financial assistance for nuclear power plants.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen’s words reverberated in Germany, which switched off its last nuclear reactor in 2023.<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen’s father, Ernst Albrecht, like his daughter\u00a0a member of Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)<\/a>, was the head of government of the state of Lower Saxony<\/a> in the 1970s and a staunch supporter of nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

H\u00a0failed in his attempt to establish a final repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste in the east of his state, however. The village of Gorleben, which had been pinpointed as the place where that repository was to be built, became a symbol of the struggle of hundreds of thousands of people against nuclear energy. The repository was never built.<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

Von der Leyen’s appeal for a return to nuclear energy is meeting with mixed reactions at best in Berlin.<\/p>\n

From 1961 onward, a total of 37 reactors within Germany supplied up to 30% of the nationy’s electricity. The country began phasing out nuclear power 15 years ago, following the disaster in Fukushima<\/a>, Japan, on March 11, 2011. The last German nuclear power plant was taken offline in 2023.<\/p>\n

Since then, there has been a recurring debate in Germany about whether a return to nuclear power would be sensible, given the fluctuation in the production of renewables like solar and wind energy and especially given the scarcity of oil and gas imports during\u00a0international crises such as the war in Ukraine or the US-Israeli war on Iran and subsequent escalations across\u00a0the Middle East.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday\u00a0Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a>, himself a member of the CDU,\u00a0said previous federal governments had decided to phase out nuclear energy\u00a0and rolling back that\u00a0decision was not possible. “I regret this,” he said, “but it is the way it is, and we are now concentrating on the energy policy we have.”<\/p>\n

Though the CDU and allied Bavarian Christian Social Union support\u00a0nuclear energy, Merz also knows that a rollback would need to find a majority in the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament. And and the far-right Alternative for Germany<\/a> (AfD) party’s votes would be needed to make up the numbers. Merz has said he would not work with the AfD.<\/p>\n

The conservatives’ junior coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats<\/a> (SPD), have rejected von der Leyen’s proposal to return to nuclear energy: Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, of the SPD, saidt nuclear energy had already cost taxpayers billions.\u00a0“If a risky technology is still dependent on state support after three-quarters of a century, and better alternatives have long existed, then consequences should be drawn,” Schneider said.<\/p>\n

Schneider also rejected the suggestion to focus primarily on mobile reactors, so-called Small Modular Reactors\u00a0(SMRs): “These small nuclear power plants have been in the works for decades, but there still has not been a breakthrough, and there is still a struggle to secure subsidies,” he said.<\/p>\n

Markus Krebber, the CEO of Germany’s largest electricity provider, RWE, recently rejected the idea of \u200b\u200bsmall reactors.\u00a0“As things stand, an investment in SMRs is not feasible for a private company,” Krebber told the newsportal Pol\u00edtico. He said no supplier worldwide could commit to construction times at fixed and negotiated costs.\u00a0Companies will not provide funding for small reactors, Krebber said..<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

Many EU countries are considering expanding nuclear power. France still operates 57 reactors. The French have formed a group of 15 EU states advocating for new nuclear power plants. This group includes countries such as Sweden and Italy. Other countries, like Germany, Spain, and Austria, have permanently abandoned nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

In Germany, the disaster in Chernobyl<\/a> in 1986 prompted a rethink of nuclear energy. Fukushima, Japan, on March 11, 2011, prompted the gradual phase-out of nuclear power plants. The Green Party<\/a>, founded in West Germany in 1980 campaigned heavily against nuclear power. After they entered in a government with the Social Democrats, they successfully pushed for the gradual exit in 2000.<\/p>\n

That was rolled back when the conservatives returned to power in a coalition with the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) and in 2010 decided to extend the operating lives of German reactors.<\/p>\n

But the tides turned again: Following an earthquake and tsunami, a meltdown occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, a so-called “super-meltdown” and Angela Merkel herself oversaw the return to the exit strategy. And that decision stands to this day.<\/p>\n

This article was originally written in German.<\/em><\/p>\n

While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/74501283_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5AAU7 Germany has decommissioned its nuclear power plantsImage: Christine Koenig\/picture alliance At a nuclear summit near Paris earlier this week, European\u00a0Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the transition from nuclear energy undertaken by some EU\u00a0countries as a “strategic mistake.” Nuclear power, she said, is a “reliable, affordable source of low-emission electricity.”\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-1820181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1820181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1820181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1820181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1820181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}