Germany to discuss life extensions by the summer

5 March 2010


The Bavarian minister for the environment Markus Söder has said that Bavaria would propose a 10 years longer operation period for the German nuclear power plants, if the federal government continue to wait until the autumn to announce a new energy plan.

According to Söder the decision would be dependent not on the age of the plants, but on their level of safety.

When it comes to increased profits the utilities will get during the longer operation period, Söder says that they should pay into a fund to support renewable energies in regions where nuclear power plants are located.

Meanwhile, federal minister for the environment, nature protection and reactor safety, Norbert Röttgen (CDU) has said that he will invite the federal states for a discussion about the nuclear power plant lifetimes before the parliamentary summer interval.

At the same time, the Greens are trying to make the forthcoming election in Northrhine-Westphalia about life extensions. After all Claudia Roth, one of the chairmen of the Greens, said that according to the federal ministry for the environment and reactor safety the federal, states have to agree to a change of the German nuclear law about plant life extensions.

In Schleswig-Holstein the CDU fraction chairman Christian von Boetticher warned Vattenfall not to restart the Krümmel plant, which is shut down after a transformer failure. He said even a small problem would be disastrous for Vattenfall’s reputation. The remaining electricity should instead be transferred to the Brokdorf plant, he said.


Related Articles
Polish utility PGE confirms nuclear plans
GEH to work with Italy’s EnergyLab
Poland's nuclear interest
Westinghouse signs MOU with Polish utility PGE
GEH splits top post; Fuller remains
SNC-Lavalin and GEH in Polish pact
Poland returns to nuclear power
GE signs nuclear MOU with Polish engineering firm
GEH signs MOU with Polish engineering school



Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.