The Greens want to know whether the state government, which is demanding continued operation of the plant, had known about the defect in a valve for some time.
After a leak in the Isar 2 nuclear power plant near Landshut became known, the Greens in the Landtag have questions for the state government. The government of the CSU and Free Voters is calling for the last Bavarian nuclear reactor to continue operating, but is ignoring “the broken valve” and “the safety risk,” said Green Party leader Ludwig Hartmann on Friday.
He announced several inquiries “to create transparency around the numerous inconsistencies and open questions,” it said in a press release. He expects “clear and unambiguous answers,” said Hartmann. Among other things, the Greens want to know from the state government whether Isar 2 could continue to run without any problems after the defect. And they demand information as to whether the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment knew about the leak when TÜV Süd issued its assessment, according to which the power plant’s service life could be extended without any problems.
On Monday, the Federal Environment Ministry informed that the Isar 2 reactor would have to be shut down and repaired in October if the power plant remained on the grid after the originally planned shutdown on December 31 – or in reserve operation, as Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) suggested Has. There was talk of an “internal valve leak” in the cooling circuit.
Critics of continued operation then demanded that Isar 2 be shut down immediately. The federal government, in turn, announced that it would check whether the planned reserve operation until April 2023 is still possible. The Bavarian state government, on the other hand, rejects the emergency reserve and insists on letting the Lower Bavarian power plant run. The Bavarian Ministry of the Environment said the leaking valve was “harmless in terms of safety”. It’s not even a reportable event.