The Economics Minister’s proposal for reserve operation of nuclear power plants is causing controversy. In a letter, an operator doubts the technical feasibility. Habeck rejects this.
In the debate about the lifetime of the last three nuclear power plants, Economics Minister Robert Habeck dismissed doubts about the technical feasibility of operating the Bavarian Isar 2 plant as a reserve. The reason for the reply was a letter from the operator to State Secretary Patrick Graichen on Tuesday. In it, Preussenelektra boss Guido Knott described the ministry’s proposal to transfer two of the three nuclear power plants that will be running until the end of the year to a reserve as “technically unfeasible”. The proposal is therefore “unsuitable for securing the supply contribution of the systems,” quoted the “Spiegel” from the letter. “Testing a start-up procedure that has never been practiced before should not coincide with a critical state of the power supply,” Knott said, according to “Spiegel”.
Habeck “surprised” by the letter from the nuclear power plant operator
Habeck expressed surprise. The Greens politician accused the group of not having understood the concept of the emergency reserve: There are no plans to start up and shut down the systems. Rather, it is intended to “decide once whether the power plants are needed or not”. This could happen in December, January or February. “That obviously went past the technicians at Preussenelektra.” In addition, Habeck referred to an earlier letter from the energy company in August, in which it announced that a short-term standstill would be necessary even in the event of a longer stretching operation. According to Habeck, this information from the group contradicts itself.
Now it should be clarified in new talks what applies, said the Minister of Economic Affairs. He pointed out that an overhaul would also have been necessary in the case of a stretching operation, “ie the obvious wish of Preussenelektra”. Preussenelektra belongs to Germany’s largest energy group Eon.
The FDP is also skeptical
The energy policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Michael Kruse, explained: “Robert Habeck’s proposal obviously does not stand up to in-depth technical examination.” Nuclear power plants are not a testing ground for green election campaign success. The government must now present a new concept to ensure security of supply. There is no realistic way around extending the terms. The Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger called the rejection of the reserve operation by Preussenelektra a “super meltdown for the federal government”. “Germany is facing political inability to act and an economic disaster because of green ideological politics,” said the Free Voter politician.
An Eon spokesman did not want to comment on the letter from Preussenelektra to the ministry (BMWK) when asked. “We communicated on Monday evening that, in terms of their technical design, nuclear power plants are not reserve power plants that can be switched on and off variably. You can assume that we are in close contact with the BMWK in order to find a feasible solution,” said he.
It’s about these nuclear power plants
According to the plans of the Federal Ministry, the Neckarwestheim 2 nuclear power plant in Baden-Württemberg is also to be transferred to a reserve. After the Preussenelektra letter became known, a local spokesman said: “We are currently in contact with the Federal Ministry of Economics to clarify the specific details and our questions.” Only then can the technical and organizational feasibility be assessed. “We ask for your understanding that we will not take part in public debates until then.”
Source: Stern
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