A few days before the shutdown of the last German nuclear power plants, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck emphasized that the energy supply was secure.
“The security of energy supply in Germany was guaranteed in this difficult winter and will continue to be guaranteed,” said the Green politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. When asked whether he could guarantee the security of the energy supply, the Vice Chancellor said yes.
“We have the situation under control thanks to the high filling levels in the gas storage facilities and the new liquid gas terminals on the north German coasts and, last but not least, due to more renewable energies,” said Habeck.
Habeck made it clear that he considers the nuclear phase-out to be final. The nuclear power plants would “go into dismantling sooner or later,” he argued. “And the construction of new nuclear power plants has always presented itself as an economic fiasco – whether in France, Great Britain or Finland.” German operators are also not interested in building new nuclear power plants. “Our energy system will be different: we will have 80 percent renewable energy by 2030.”
Majority against nuclear power plant shutdown
Almost two-thirds of Germans are against the shutdown of the last nuclear power plants in Germany planned for April 15. In a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, 32 percent were in favor of the three remaining reactors continuing to run for a limited period of time. A further 33 percent are even in favor of extending the terms indefinitely. On the other hand, only 26 percent think the shutdown is right at this point in time.
The last three German nuclear power plants should actually have been taken off the grid at the end of last year. However, because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, the traffic light coalition decided last year to let the three reactors continue to run over the winter. Next Saturday, however, they are to be finally shut down.
Only the supporters of the Greens are in favor of the shutdown with a majority of 56 percent. On the other hand, the voters of the other two coalition parties are more likely to reject it. Only 31 percent of SPD supporters are in favor of ending the use of nuclear power now. Among the FDP voters it is only 12 percent.
Even among supporters of the Left Party, only 37 percent are in favor of a shutdown. With the CDU/CSU it is 16 percent, with the AfD only 6 percent.