The press is sometimes harsh with Robert Habeck’s proposal for an emergency reserve for two nuclear power plants. Focus Online has collected the first votes on the stress test decision.
Two of the three remaining German nuclear power plants should continue to be available for power supply until next spring, but only as an emergency reserve. This means that the nuclear phase-out at the end of 2022 will be adhered to in principle, but the two plants could “be used again or continue to be used by mid-April 2023 if the situation requires it,” said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) on Monday evening in Berlin. From his point of view, this is a “reasonable and necessary decision” in order, if necessary, “to be able to make an additional contribution to the power grid in southern Germany over the winter of 2022/23,” said the Green politician.
Habeck has to listen to a lot of criticism for his proposal. A press review:
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: But why only keep two, why not all three, nuclear power plants, including the one in Emsland, for stretching operations? This can be explained by the north-south divide in network load, but also by the state elections in Lower Saxony. […] The fear of a power outage is not so great that the SPD and the Greens would be more flexible. You won’t have to expect protests now. But all those responsible at federal and state level are asked why a country that describes itself as a sovereign electricity exporter would be very happy if France’s nuclear power plants were running at full steam again. And all 56.
Der Spiegel: “‘Germany doesn’t have an electricity problem, it has a heat problem.’ With this sentence, Energy Minister Robert Habeck has ironed out all calls for an extension of the lifetime of German nuclear power plants in recent months. But as of today it is officially clear: the sentence was wrong, the minister was wrong. Germany has a heat problem, an electricity problem and possibly also a Habeck problem.
[…] Habeck’s change of course is good news for consumers. You don’t have to be a nuclear fan to find it reassuring that at least the economically important south of Germany is being spared a shutdown experiment with an uncertain outcome.”
Image: Habeck makes it clear with his nuclear plan: He never intended to even think about the extension of the service life of the German nuclear reactors, as demanded by experts and EU partners. “You can’t play with nuclear power,” says Robert Habeck now. Instead, the minister is playing with Germany’s energy security. This is bad for the electricity market, bad for all Germans, bad for Europe. The traffic light coalition must not let him get away with it!
Märkische Oderzeitung: The country should save electricity. Despite various austerity appeals, Minister of Economics Habeck and his party have maintained the phrase that it is about the gas and not the electricity market, which is why the debate about longer operation of the remaining nuclear reactors is nonsensical. Reference was made to the end of the stress test, which should decide on the further use of nuclear energy. The result is clear. Germany is also phasing out nuclear power in times of great need; two reactors should only be available as a reserve in the event of an absolute emergency. It is clear that every kilowatt hour counts for the Greens, unless it comes from nuclear energy. Explaining this to non-Green voters is a real stress test for Habeck.
Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung: For the moment, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, the former federal chairman of the Greens, has at least maneuvered his way out of the nuclear dilemma. The people in the region, who have been living with the nuclear power plant in Neckarwestheim for 50 years, still have a few months left with mixed feelings that this technology triggers in the neighborhood. All in all, it is to be hoped that the emergency reserve reactor will not become an emergency reactor over the last few meters.
