In the debate about a longer term for the Isar 2 nuclear power plant, a legal opinion accuses TÜV Süd of bias in the safety assessment of the reactor. Specifically, in its 21-page statement, the Hamburg law firm Michael Günther accuses the German press agency and was created on behalf of Greenpeace Germany, presented TÜV Süd with a “sloppily argued commissioned work” that “cannot be recognized as a serious assessment”. The impression also arises that the TÜV ignores the applicable nuclear law.
In mid-June, an expert opinion by the TÜV became known, which, on behalf of the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment, considers continued operation of the Isar 2 nuclear reactor beyond December 31, 2022 to be possible from a safety point of view. A restart of Block C in Gundremmingen, which has already been shut down, is “possible from a technical point of view,” according to the TÜV report dated April 14, 2022. Since then, the proponents of a lifetime extension – such as the CSU – have repeatedly cited the report as evidence that the date set by law in the course of the nuclear phase-out had to be overturned.
According to the legal opinion, the evaluation was “apparently intended for use as a weapon in the current discussion about extending the service life in the political arena”. TÜV Süd certifies what the client wants. “Regardless of the condition and without checking the nuclear power plant, the result is already clear for the TÜV,” says Heinz Smital, nuclear physicist and Greenpeace nuclear expert. The apparently short processing time by the TÜV also fuels the suspicion “that a courtesy report has been created here,” according to the lawyers.
With a view to the ongoing debate about impending energy bottlenecks in winter due to a shortage of natural gas from Russia, Smital emphasized: “The nuclear power plants are a safety risk and will not help in the event of a possible gas shortage in the coming winter.” Nuclear power is too cumbersome to absorb power peaks. Instead of relying on more nuclear power, it must now be a matter of using renewable energies sparingly.
In a statement in March 2022, the Federal Ministries for Economic Affairs and the Environment had already spoken out against the continued operation of the last three German nuclear power plants Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2. A longer term would not bring any additional amounts of electricity in the coming winter, instead the nuclear power plants would have to go through the mandatory extensive safety check immediately, was the reasoning at the time. In addition, a restart of the nuclear power plants that have already been shut down is “not legally secure” and therefore impossible.
In the meantime, the Federal Ministry of Economics has announced further investigations into the sense and possible risks of a longer service life for nuclear reactors. The results are expected to be presented in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation in Germany (BUND) presented a study that categorically rejects the continued operation of nuclear power plants. The benefits of longer maturities are disproportionate to the risks and costs. The report, which the physicist Oda Becker prepared on behalf of the BUND, criticizes the low energy efficiency and insufficient protection of the power plants against floods and terrorist attacks. The safety checks carried out last in 2009 were based on a set of rules from the early 1980s, in which the nuclear accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima were not even taken into account.
Because gas is threatening to become scarce in winter, discussions have been going on for weeks about letting the power plants run longer. Representatives of the SPD and the Greens had recently shown themselves willing to talk, at least as far as a so-called stretching operation is concerned, i.e. the further use of the fuel rods currently in use beyond the turn of the year.