prime minister
Because: the end of nuclear power means a new start for the energy transition
Stephan Weil (SPD), Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, speaks in the guest house of the state government. photo
© Michael Matthey/dpa
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil is optimistic about the forthcoming end of nuclear energy in Germany. “The end of nuclear power is also the final restart for the energy transition: everyone involved can now fully flip the switch and concentrate on the expansion of renewable energies and the use of green hydrogen technology,” said the SPD politician on Friday. Lower Saxony wants to be the motor with a “safe, clean and reliable” energy supply, especially from wind and sun.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil is optimistic about the forthcoming end of nuclear energy in Germany. “The end of nuclear power is also the final restart for the energy transition: everyone involved can now fully flip the switch and concentrate on the expansion of renewable energies and the use of green hydrogen technology,” said the SPD politician on Friday. Lower Saxony wants to be the motor with a “safe, clean and reliable” energy supply, especially from wind and sun.
Weil described the planned shutdown of the remaining three nuclear power plants on Saturday as a historic day. “We are thus drawing a line under the decades-long conflict over the use of nuclear energy,” said the head of government. He emphasized that Lower Saxony was aware of the potential for conflict as well as the risks and dangers of the technology, especially against the background of the controversial transport of nuclear waste. “Nuclear energy is just not ‘clean’, but leaves many generations with highly dangerous radioactive waste for people and the environment,” he said.
On Saturday, the Emsland nuclear power plant in Lingen will go offline after around 35 years of operation, together with the Neckarwestheim 2 reactors in Baden-Württemberg and the Isar 2 reactors in Bavaria. The end of nuclear power production in Germany, which was actually planned for the end of 2022, was postponed to mid-April due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis.
