Eon SE is ready to talk about extending the life of its last nuclear power plant. The Isar 2 plant in Bavaria is actually scheduled to go offline at the end of the year, but the precarious Russian gas supplies have triggered a new debate about the date. The federal government has commissioned a stress test on energy security and a possible extension of nuclear power plant operating times, the results of which are expected shortly. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently said that it “could make sense” to keep the nuclear power plants running in order to ensure security of supply.
The remaining three German nuclear power plants, including Eon’s Isar 2 plant northwest of Munich, are scheduled to shut down in December. This would complete the decision to phase out nuclear energy after the reactor catastrophe in Fukushima in 2011. The gas crisis could now upset this plan. “We have been preparing for years, both technically and organizationally, for the decommissioning and dismantling of our nuclear power plants,” said Eon CFO Marc Spieker on Wednesday. “If the federal government comes to a reassessment of the situation as part of the ongoing stress test, we are ready to talk.”