Scholz Shoots Down Appeal to Reverse Germany’s Nuclear Exit
(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated his opposition to reversing Germany's exit from nuclear power to help cut reliance on Russian energy, saying the technical challenges would be too great.
Germany is rushing to end its heavy dependence on Russian fossil fuels following the invasion of Ukraine but the process has been complicated by the decision by former Chancellor Angela Merkel's previous government to shut down the country's nuclear power plants. The move was prompted by the disaster at Fukushima, Japan in 2011 and the remaining three reactors are due to go off line this year.
“We decided for reasons that I think are very good and right that we want to phase them out,” Scholz, who was finance minister and vice chancellor under Merkel, said Wednesday during government questions in the lower house of parliament in Berlin.
He dismissed a lawmaker's appeal for the nuclear exit to be delayed as “not a good plan,” arguing that it would not reduce energy dependence on other countries as the fuel rods would also have to be procured from abroad.
While he emphasized Germany's effort to wean itself off Russian energy as fast as possible, Scholz did not address a European Union proposal announced Tuesday that includes a phased-in import ban on coal from Russia.
Germany has already said it's aiming to halt imports of Russian coal by this fall as it pushes ahead with a massive expansion of renewables like wind and solar power.
Scholz's cabinet on Wednesday approved a package of measures aimed at speeding up the process and helping to make Germany independent of fossil fuels by 2035. Its goal is to triple the speed of emission cuts and to raise the share of renewable energy in Germany's power mix to 80% by 2030.
“The invasion of Russia shows how important it is to phase out fossil fuels and to consistently push ahead with the expansion of renewables,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in an emailed statement. “We are doing this boldly and consistently.”
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