German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) sharply rebuked new remarks made by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about nuclear power. “The heart of this backwards strategy is new subsidies for nuclear plants” Schneider said on Tuesday. He added that after three‑quarters of a century a risk‑laden technology is still being propped up by the state, while better alternatives already exist. “Instead of pumping more tax‑payer money into new risk reactors, I refuse” he declared.
Schneider warned that building meaningful numbers of new reactors would require massive investment, leaving other areas short of funding. “Small reactors have been announced for decades, yet they fail to create breakthroughs and instead vie for subsidies” he said. “Even though the plants are smaller, the cumulative problems grow”.
He praised clean electricity from wind and solar as both cheaper and free of radioactive waste, arguing that these sources drive the energy transition forward. “Germany must continue to rely on safer, cheaper alternatives” he insisted, noting that the country’s exit from nuclear power has increased safety and that the nuclear consensus reached fifteen years ago has served Germany well. “We should not gamble with that” he cautioned.
Von der Leyen had earlier described Germany’s and parts of the EU’s abandonment of nuclear energy as a “strategic mistake” at a nuclear summit in Paris. She also unveiled a new European plan for small modular reactors, expected to be operational in the early 2030s, with the goal of turning Europe into a “global centre for next‑generation nuclear power”.
