It’s official: Germany has moved on from nuclear energy.
On Saturday April 15th, 2023, Germany shut down its last three nuclear power plants: Emsland, Isar 2, and Neckarwestheim. The plants were set to be closed by the end of 2022, but because of the war in Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz decided in October 2022 to keep the three power plants operating. The government hoped that the nuclear power would help offset the loss of energy from Russia. It was decided that the power plants would continue operating until April of 2023, when inevitably, they were shut down.
Germany has always had conflicting views about nuclear energy. Until 2011, the country obtained nearly ¼ of their total energy supply from about 17 nuclear power plants. Support for nuclear energy was relatively strong until the Cherynobyl disaster in 1986, which gave birth to new fears about the safety of nuclear energy. In the same year, the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) passed a resolution to completely phase out nuclear energy in ten years (World Nuclear Association 2023). While this plan was not completely fulfilled, the anti-nuclear movement gave birth to a new party, the Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen). Currently, the Green Party is a part of the ruling coalition of the Bundestag, and they have consistently grown in popularity. The disaster at Fukushima in 2011 caused the German government to officially renounce nuclear energy; Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that they would “accelerate” the phase out of nuclear energy (Paddison et al. 2023).
But the complete abandonment of nuclear energy has been offset by something much worse: coal. 30% of Germany’s energy comes from coal and other fossil fuels. Germany has planned to completely phase out of coal energy by 2038, but in the meantime, the country is still reliant on it.
On the other hand, the United States has been investing more into nuclear energy over the years. The US is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, and has 55 operating nuclear power plants, with more being constructed. Generally, the United States considers nuclear power a good, low-carbon alternative to other energy sources, such as fossil fuels. The United States experienced a nuclear accident in 1979 at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, PA, but there were no significant health effects recorded. This accident and other nuclear disasters around the world did not deter the United States from investing in nuclear energy. Phasing out nuclear energy like Germany would be near impossible in the United States; not only would the country have to turn to fossil fuels to offset the loss, billions of dollars would be lost and many employees would lose their jobs. All in all, the United States relies too heavily on nuclear energy to turn away from nuclear energy.
References:
“Nuclear Power in Germany.” World Nuclear Association, World Nuclear Association, Apr. 2023, https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-g-n/germany.aspx.
“Nuclear Power in the USA.” World Nuclear Association , World Nuclear Association, 2023, https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/usa-nuclear-power.aspx.
Paddison, Laura, et al. “Germany Quits Nuclear Power, Ushering in a ‘new Era’ as It Closes Its Final Three Plants.” CNN, CNN, 15 Apr. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/europe/germany-nuclear-phase-out-climate-intl/index.html