Economic Malmendier calls for a longer term for the remaining nuclear reactors
Bavarian nuclear power plant Isar 2
© AFP
Economic wise Ulrike Malmendier has spoken out in favor of staying longer on the network of the last three nuclear power plants operated in Germany. “We now know that the winter of 2023/2024 will not necessarily be easier,” said the economist from the US University of Berkeley to the “Handelsblatt” (Monday edition). “That’s why it’s important to exhaust all possibilities, and that’s where nuclear power plants come in.”
The decision must now be made quickly so that the operators can prepare and procure new fuel rods. Malmendier also criticized the federal government’s course on the nuclear issue for foreign policy reasons: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), with his late decision to shut down the Emsland, Neckarwestheim 2 and Isar 2 power plants later, but at the same time continue to purchase gas from Russia, “in the caused confusion in the United States”.
Since this summer, Malmendier has been a member of the Council of Economic Experts, which advises the federal government on economic issues. According to the original plan, they no longer wanted to produce electricity from nuclear power from the beginning of 2023. In view of the energy crisis, the running time of the three power plants was extended until April. New fuel rods should not be bought for this.
The Economic Council of the opposition CDU meanwhile called for the question of shutting down the remaining power plants to be separated from research into new nuclear technologies. “Although the time of classic boiling water and pressurized water reactors is running out, research is now presenting new operating principles and reactor types for which the previous pros and cons arguments no longer apply,” says a position paper by the committee from which the editorial network Germany quoted on Monday.
“With the decision to phase out the use of nuclear energy, Germany must by no means close the door on research for this future technology,” said Economic Council Secretary General Wolfgang Steiger to RND. “On the contrary, research on reactor types of the fourth generation must be significantly intensified and more financially supported by the public sector.”
