Scholz reverses Merkel’s nuclear shutdown policy

OLAF SCHOLZ has signalled that the country will keep its last three nuclear plants open, upending a legacy policy of Angela Merkel to shut them down.

With Europe desperate to find alternatives to Russian gas, the German chancellor said it “made sense” to continue running the plants that were due to be closed at the end of the year.

“[For] the energy supply in Germany, the three last nuclear plants are relevant exclusively for electricity production, and only for a small part of it,” Mr Scholz said. “Nevertheless, it makes sense to continue running them.”

Germany had been due to decommission all its nuclear power plants by the end of this year as part of a longstanding goal of phasing out nuclear power.

However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ensuing energy crisis has forced German officials to rethink that.

The plants only account for 6 per cent of Germany’s electricity supply. Mr Scholz has said he is awaiting the results of a “stress test” of the country’s energy capacity, which will determine whether the nuclear phaseout should continue.

A decision to keep the plants running could be a bone of contention for the German Green party, which since the 1970s has been anti-nuclear and is part of Mr Scholz’s coalition government along with the liberal FDP party.

However, according to German media reports, the Greens are open to a deal where they support the ongoing use of nuclear power if the FDP drops opposition to a bill on speed limits for motorways.

Polls also suggest that support among Green voters for phasing out nuclear power is falling, owing to the concerns about Russian gas.

Meanwhile, Mr Scholz blamed Russia yesterday for delays in deploying a key turbine on the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline and accused Moscow of refusing to take delivery of it.

Russian energy giant Gazprom said that delivery of the turbine needed to keep gas flowing to Europe was “impossible” due to sanctions on Moscow. The statement risks causing further concern in European countries, which suspect Moscow is looking for an excuse to delay the turbine’s return to Russia and further reduce its gas deliveries.