The closure of Germanys final three nuclear power reactors on Saturday brings the countrys nuclear history to its conclusion after more than six decades. In Germany, the usage of nuclear power has been a contentious topic, with some advocating for a shift to renewable energy and others maintaining that abandoning nuclear power is unfeasible and would hinder efforts to cut carbon emissions. Despite considerable criticism, the German government has remained committed to gradually shutting down nuclear power and transitioning to new energy sources.“A New Era”Steffi Lemke, Germanys Federal Minister for Environment and Consumer Protection, has declared that nuclear power is not sustainable nor environmentally friendly and that the country is entering a new era of energy production.The closing of Germanys nuclear power reactors Emsland, Isar 2, and Neckarwestheim ends a programme that began more than two decades ago. However, the decision to phase out nuclear power in Germany dates back considerably longer. In the 1970s, Germany saw the emergence of a powerful anti-nuclear movement, with diverse organisations banding together to oppose the construction of new nuclear power facilities. Their concerns were about the technologys potential hazards and connection to nuclear weapons. This campaign resulted in the establishment of the Green Party, now a ruling coalition member.Nuclear calamities occurring around the world strengthened German opposition to nuclear power. The accident of the Three Mile Island nuclear power station in Pennsylvania, USA, in 1979, and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which produced a radioactive waste cloud that reached sections of Germany, were noteworthy.A plan that took decades to fulfilThe German government vowed in the year 2000 to phase out nuclear power and begin the process of shutting down nuclear power reactors. However, when a new government took office in 2009, there was a brief time in which it appeared that nuclear power would be given a respite. Some considered it a bridge technology capable of assisting the countrys shift to renewable energy sources. Nonetheless, the administration remained dedicated to its vow to completely abandon nuclear power in the country.Responses to the historic decision of GermanyAccording to Paul-Marie Manière, a Greenpeace spokesperson, closing Germanys nuclear power facilities is a big victory for millions of people who have been fighting nuclear power in Germany and worldwide for decades.Critics of Germanys nuclear shutdown argue that abandoning a low-carbon energy source as the effects of the climate crisis aggravate is thoughtless. The concern, according to Professor Leah Stokes of the University of California, Santa Barbara, is that fossil fuels will replace the energy needed left by nuclear power. According to a study published last year, losses in nuclear energy in Germany have been essentially compensated by increases in coal usage. Germany intends to replace the energy produced by the three decommissioned nuclear power facilities with renewables, gas, and coal. However, coal, the most polluting of fossil fuels, still accounts for more than 30% of Germanys energy. As a result, the government has made challenging choices to employ coal to increase energy security.How to manage the deadly nuclear wasteGermany is now faced with the difficult task of selecting how to treat its deadly high-level radioactive waste, which will remain harmful for hundreds of thousands of years. Currently, the waste is being temporarily housed near decommissioned nuclear facilities, but a permanent storage place that will keep the trash secure for a million years is being sought.Such a storage location must be deep, hundreds of metres underground, and made of specified rock kinds, such as crystalline granite, rock salt, or clay rock. It must also be geologically stable, free of earthquakes and subsurface water movement. The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal, BGE, predicts that a definitive location will not be selected until 2046-2064. Following that, the repository must be built, loaded with waste, and sealed, which will take decades.
