Does it hurt a lot? Of course, says Ludwig Hartmann, “these are all things that hurt”. The arms deliveries to Ukraine, then the coal turnaround – and now things could suddenly go quickly with the continued operation of the last Bavarian nuclear power plant Isar 2 near Landshut, which was supposed to shut down on December 31, 2022.
Whether it will continue depends on the result of the latest stress test, with which Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to check whether the energy supply is really secure in the coming winter – especially in Bavaria. For Hartmann, leader of the Greens parliamentary group in the state parliament, nuclear power is still a “high-risk technology” and the fight against nuclear energy is part of his party’s core brand. You can feel that the Greens are now also threatened with a stress test.
In the Munich city council, where the Greens and the SPD govern, the coalition cleared the way on Thursday for longer operation of the Isar 2 power plant, in which the city has a 25 percent stake. The Munich Greens are thus touching on a taboo in their party. Many members would not even forgive the political enemy for phasing out nuclear power, albeit for a limited time and without additional nuclear waste. However, mayor Katrin habenschaden places security of supply in Munich above party raison d’être. “I’m there for everyone in Munich,” she said. If the stress test shows that “there is a threat of a power supply bottleneck, Isar 2 stretch operation should not be taboo”.
State parliamentary faction leader Hartmann finds it “unfortunate” that the City Council Greens are talking so offensively about continued operation – after all, the result of the more stringent stress test is not yet certain. Hartmann is even stricter with Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU). He blames the state government for the fact that Bavaria could remain stuck on nuclear power for a longer period of time, for which it has “made dependent” on Russian gas, “slept through” the expansion of wind power and “boycotted” the expansion of the grid.
Head of State Herrmann shoots against Habeck
Federal Minister Habeck had formulated it in a similar way, if not as heartily. The replica from Söder’s State Chancellery definitely falls into the “hearty” category. “The statements made by Robert Habeck only show his guilty conscience. The Economics Minister was completely wrong about nuclear power and has been on an energy policy and argumentative retreat for weeks,” said Head of State Florian Herrmann on Friday Süddeutsche Zeitung.
He also accused Habeck of “not telling the truth” in the security debate about nuclear power. The risks of extending the term have been refuted, “even the Munich Greens are stabbing him in the back,” said Herrmann. The head of the state chancellery does not leave uncommented that Habeck is obviously of the opinion that the network expansion in Bavaria is going too slowly. The expansion of the power lines is primarily Habeck’s job and is “not making progress anywhere in Germany,” said Herrmann.
Due to the situation in the city, which is unique in Germany, the Greens in Munich feel compelled to act, even if they were also urged by SPD Mayor Dieter Reiter to make a decision quickly. No other municipality owns a quarter of a nuclear power plant that is still in operation. At the same time, the municipal utility manages to completely or almost completely dispense with gas in heat production thanks to a mix of coal, oil, geothermal energy and waste incineration in the coming winter.
There is a catch to this positive message, however. Not only the heat depends on the current gas combustion in the city, but also the electricity. If this is reduced to zero, another energy source must be found. Apparently the only option the city now wants to pull is nuclear power from its own reactor.
Bund Naturschutz at a distance from the Greens
The Greens and Mayor Reiter rule out the purchase of new fuel elements and the continued operation of Isar 2 beyond the summer of 2023, as requested by the CSU. The Munich city government can only imagine running the power plant with the fuel elements already in use until the technical end of their service life. Experts call it stretching, and it is precisely for this that the federal government should create the legal prerequisites as a precaution. The supervisory board of Stadtwerke decided unanimously, with the votes of the Greens.
Some in the party now fear that it could not stay with the stretching operation. “That would be the start of a lifetime extension,” says Richard Mergner, head of the federal government for nature conservation. Are the Greens in danger of losing the environmental movement? Mergner, who emphasizes the safety risks of nuclear power, speaks of “wrong paths”. There is also talk of profit interests in the ranks of the critics. A six or a maximum of eight months longer term, which is currently in the room, would be very lucrative for Munich as a shareholder. Isar 2 would supply an additional five terawatt hours of electricity and the owners could sell it at a high price on a heated market.
And what does the operator of the Isar 2 power plant say about all this? A spokesman for the Eon subsidiary Preussen-Elektra said they “didn’t want to comment further” on the debate. However, his company signaled early on that “under certain conditions it would be technically possible for Isar 2 to continue operating if our power plant were needed”. “We respect” the fact that the federal government initially decided against it.
What if that decision changes? Preussen-Elektra doesn’t want to say anything about that. But one can assume that those responsible for Isar 2 long for a quick announcement from politicians. Personnel, fuel, safety checks, the operators would have to take care of all of that if Isar 2 is to continue running. Time is running out.