Party conference in Bonn: Greens bless nuclear power reserve operation

The Greens support a temporary reserve operation of the two southern German nuclear reactors. This was decided late in the evening at the party conference in Bonn. However, the Greens continue to reject the procurement of new fuel rods.

In the midst of the coalition dispute over nuclear power, the Greens have backed their Federal Minister of Economics, Robert Habeck. The two southern German nuclear power plants Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 should be kept in reserve until April 15 and continue to be used to generate electricity if necessary, the delegates decided late in the evening in Bonn with a clear majority. The third remaining Emsland nuclear power plant, on the other hand, is to be finally shut down on January 1, 2023.

The delegates rejected the procurement of new fuel elements. “Bündnis 90/Die Grünen will not agree to any legal regulation in the Bundestag that would procure new fuel elements or the new enriched uranium required for them,” says the approved motion.

Purchase of new fuel rods “red line”

The several hundred delegates reaffirmed the line that leading Greens such as the two party leaders Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour had taken in the past few days in the dispute with the FDP. Shortly before the party congress, Lang had described the purchase of new fuel rods as a “red line” in an interview with “Spiegel”.

An opposing motion, which had called for an end to all German nuclear power plants, failed.

Green leader Ricarda Lang defended in the daily topics the course of the Greens to keep the two nuclear power plants running until spring. This is not a loss of face for the party. It is a question of what is needed. The fact that coal-fired power plants are still in operation hurts her as a climate protector.

Coalition dispute over nuclear power plants

A heated argument has broken out in the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP over how to deal with German nuclear power plants. While the FDP is pushing for a longer period of operation, the Greens in particular reject this. Habeck had proposed a nuclear power reserve, but recently made it clear that he assumes that continued operation of the two southern German nuclear power plants will be necessary.

Shortly before the start of the party congress, the party leadership emphasized that the result of the planned vote on this topic expected for the night was binding for the upcoming talks with the SPD and FDP. “Why else should we decide it?” said party leader Omid Nouripour when asked by journalists.

Worry about getting off the exit

Some delegates expressed security concerns and the fear that the so-called operational reserve could gradually lead to a withdrawal from the nuclear phase-out. “Who guarantees us this date?” asked delegate Karl-Wilhelm Koch from the Vulkaneifel rhetorically, with a view to Habeck’s plans for the final shutdown of the nuclear power plant in mid-April. Even the phase-out of nuclear power on December 31 of the current year was actually guaranteed.

Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, who like her cabinet colleague Habeck campaigned for the possibility of continuing to operate two nuclear power plants for a limited period, said that when she took office she “assumed with absolute certainty” that the last German nuclear power plant would be switched off by the end of the year. “Now I’m standing here in front of a Greens federal party conference and I’m asking for your approval of this impertinence,” Lemke complained.

In view of a possible crisis in winter, however, she considers the operational reserve to be justifiable. “In this federal government, we are the guarantor that we will phase out nuclear power.” Habeck said that nuclear power plants could make a contribution, albeit limited, to securing Germany’s power supply in the coming winter. “As a minister who is ultimately responsible for security of supply,” he asked for approval.

Realpolitik and a sense of responsibility

The Greens had started their federal party conference with a commitment to real political constraints and a sense of responsibility. With the words “Whether we want it or not – in the end we will have to have saved the world”, the Federal Managing Director Emily Büning set the course for the next few days in her welcoming speech. The motto of the party congress is “When our world is in question: Answer”.

Green Party leader Lang emphasized her party’s will to assume political responsibility. “We imagined it differently,” said Lang at the start of a debate on social policy. But she emphasized: “We make politics for the reality that is there, and not just for the ones we wished for.”

Green leader Ricarda Lang defended in the daily topics the course of the Greens to continue running two nuclear power plants in the energy crisis until spring. This is not a loss of face for the party. It is a question of what is needed. The fact that coal-fired power plants are still in operation hurts her as a climate protector.