Did employees of the Federal Minister of Economics suppress criticism from their own experts about the planned nuclear phase-out in 2022? No, says Robert Habeck: “The documents tell a different story.”
According to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, he and his ministry examined the question of the possible continued operation of German nuclear power plants at a very early stage. Habeck emphasized this in Berlin after a special meeting of the Committee for Climate Protection and Energy, in which he answered questions from MPs.
The special meeting was triggered by a report from the magazine “Cicero”. Accordingly, in the spring of 2022, internal concerns about the nuclear phase-out planned for the following year were suppressed in both the Ministry of Economics and the Environment Ministry. Both green-led ministries reject this. Further documents should now be made available to the MPs.
Proactive testing
“And when the MPs read the documents, a different picture will emerge,” said Habeck. “The documents tell a different story than was reported, namely that the ministry and myself, even before the Russian war of aggression, actively approached the operators of the nuclear power plants with the question: Can your things run longer? And it helps it to us?”
When asked, a spokeswoman for the ministry said that these discussions began shortly before the Russian attack became apparent. At that time, Russia was Germany’s most important gas supplier. Germany’s long-planned nuclear phase-out was planned for the turn of the year 2022/23.
The information from the nuclear power plant operators in the spring was that the remaining fuel elements from the last three German nuclear power plants would have burned out by the end of the year, said Habeck. “Later in the year, this information was corrected. It was then said that they could run two, three, four, five months longer and the term was extended again accordingly.” He assured: “Security of supply was my absolute priority and the whole company worked without any restrictions, but of course always on the basis of facts, data and also legal norms.”
In a draft note at the beginning of March, experts from the Ministry of Economic Affairs raised the question of whether continued operation might make sense, listed arguments for it and recommended an examination. According to Habeck’s own statements, this paper did not reach him at the time. However, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, it was later included in an audit note in which the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Environment spoke out against extending the operating life of the nuclear power plants. The operation of three nuclear power plants was later extended until mid-April 2023 to secure the electricity supply.
The Green Party’s spokesperson for climate protection and energy, Ingrid Nestle, saw the allegations as having been “publicly, transparently and completely dispelled” at the meeting.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
