Last of Germany’s 3 nuclear power plants begin shutting down
BERLIN — Germany began winding down its three remaining nuclear power plants Saturday as part of a long-planned transition toward renewable energy, drawing cheers from environmentalists who campaigned for the move.
The shutdown of the reactors Emsland, Neckarwestheim II and Isar II, agreed to more than a decade ago, was being closely watched abroad.
Other industrialized countries, such as the United States, Japan, China, France and Britain, are counting on nuclear energy to replace planet-warming fossil fuels. Germany’s decision to stop using both has met some skepticism, as well as unsuccessful last-minute calls to halt the shutdown.
Decades of anti-nuclear protests in Germany, stoked by disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, put pressure on successive governments to end the use of a technology that critics argue is unsafe and unsustainable.
Environmental groups marked the day with celebrations outside the three reactors and rallies in major cities, including Berlin.
Defenders of atomic energy say fossil fuels should be phased out first as part of global efforts to curb climate change, arguing that nuclear power produces far fewer greenhouse gas emissions and is safe, if properly managed.
As energy prices spiked last year due to the war in Ukraine, some members of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government got cold feet about closing the nuclear plants as planned on Dec. 31, 2022. In a compromise, Scholz agreed to a one-time extension of the deadline, but insisted that the final countdown would happen Saturday.
Still, Bavaria’s conservative governor, Markus Soeder, who backed the original deadline set in 2011 when Angela Merkel was Germany’s leader, last week called the shutdown “an absolute mistaken decision.”
China decries protests: China’s senior official overseeing Hong Kong’s affairs said Saturday that protests are not the only way for people to express their views, weeks after the city’s strict protest rules sparked controversy while signaling Beijing’s vision for the financial hub.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said the antigovernment movement sparked by an extradition bill in 2019 is a scar that will not fade away and he warned against a repeat of such chaos.
Xia’s remarks indicated Beijing’s views on the city, which is promoting its return to normalcy after strict pandemic-related restrictions and political turmoil over the past three years.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and was promised it could keep its Western-style civil liberties intact for 50 years after the handover. But after the enactment of a Beijingimposed national security law following the 2019 protests, many activists were jailed or silenced amid a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement.
In March, Hong Kong saw its first authorized protest against a government policy since the lifting of pandemic restrictions under unprecedentedly strict rules, with demonstrators made to wear numbered badges around their necks. That sparked a debate over the erosion of freedom of assembly.
France pension plan: French President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise France’s retirement age from 62 to 64 was enacted into law Saturday, the day after the country’s constitutional body approved the change.
Macron’s signature and publication in the Official Journal of the French Republic allowed the law to enter into force. The authorized changes will be implemented in September, French government spokesperson Olivier Veran said.
On Friday, the Constitutional Council rejected some parts of the government’s pension legislation but approved the higher minimum retirement age, which was central to Macron’s plan and the focus of protests.
The decision capped months of tumultuous debates in parliament and fervor in the streets. Spontaneous demonstrations took place in Paris and across the country after the ruling.
France’s main labor unions have vowed to continue fighting until it is withdrawn.
Trump fundraising: Former President Donald Trump has raised $15.4 million in the days since his unprecedented indictment by a Manhattan prosecutor, his campaign said, thanks to a surge of support from small-dollar donors.
Almost 98% of the donations since the indictment March 30 came from donors who gave less than $200, and 24% came from first-time contributors to Trump, who has raised money continuously since first becoming a candidate in 2015. His average donation over the period was less than $50.
The totals were first reported by Politico.