The SPD explicitly rejected suggestions made by the CDU group leader, Jens Spahn, regarding the reactivation of nuclear power plants in Germany. Parliamentary affairs officer Dirk Wiese told the “Rheinische Post” that “the marmot says hello every day” and that it is unproductive to continually pursue the same debates.
Wiese added that nuclear energy is “the most expensive and the most dangerous of all energy sources” and that the issue of disposing of old radioactive waste has still not been resolved. Furthermore, he stated that nuclear power cannot serve as a reliable base load in the short or medium term. Instead, Wiese emphasized, “Our focus is on the future: on expanding renewable energies as an ecological, affordable, and reliable solution, supplemented by modern gas power plants and battery storage”.
Spahn had argued at a CDU innovation congress on Wednesday evening in favor of reopening the debate on returning to nuclear power and reactivating recently shut-down reactors. Spahn claimed, “There are studies suggesting that the decommissioned reactors from recent years could be brought back online for about nine or ten billion euros”.
