“Can make sense”: Scholz open to the continued operation of German nuclear power plants – policy

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has shown himself open to longer operating times for the last three nuclear power plants that are still connected to the grid in Germany. With a view to the gas crisis, Scholz said on Wednesday that these nuclear power plants are only relevant for a small part of electricity production. “But it can still make sense,” said the SPD politician when asked about extending the runtimes for the nuclear reactors, whose operation actually ends at the end of the year. The decision will be based on a power supply stress test, the results of which will be available soon.

[Wenn Sie aktuelle Nachrichten aus Berlin, Deutschland und der Welt live auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]

As justification, Scholz pointed out, among other things, that “particularly in Bavaria, the expansion of wind energy has progressed very slowly”. The expansion of the transmission network to the south has also not progressed as quickly as planned. This is taken into account in the “very, very strict stress test” for electricity production in Germany.

This stress test will soon be over. The federal government will then draw its own conclusions from this. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) calls for the Isar 2 nuclear reactor to continue operating. (Reuters)