Germany has been forced to delay its planned exit from nuclear power this year, as a shortage of Russian gas and French nuclear fuel a looming winter energy crisis in the European Union.
Two of the county’s three remaining nuclear power plants will remain operating until mid-April in a “necessary” step to curb the risk of power grid shortages in southern Germany.
“The situation in France is not good and has developed much worse than was actually forecasted in the last few weeks,” said economy and energy minister Robert Habeck.
His party, the Greens, long opposed nuclear power, but the minister said stress test data from France’s nuclear providers suggested shortages could be more severe than expected this winter.
In April Sky News reported that France had taken half its nuclear reactors offline due to either routine maintenance or to cracking defects.
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Germany is scrambling to keep the lights on and homes warm this winter, along with other European countries reeling from Russia squeezing and eventually shutting off gas flows as it wages war in Ukraine.
On Tuesday unusual leaks were discovered on two underwater natural gas pipelines, Nord Stream 1 and 2, running from Russia to Germany, following explosions in the Baltic Sea.
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The suspected act of sabotage has heightened fears about the vulnerability of Europe’s energy supply.
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Reactors in the south of the country, Isar 2 in Bavaria and Neckarwestheim north of Stuttgart, will remain open over winter, while officials plan to close down the third remaining plant, Emsland in the northern German state of Lower Saxony, at the end of the year as scheduled.
The decision temporarily reverses Germany’s long-held plan to shut down its nuclear plants before the year is out.
Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, and subsequent anti-nuclear demonstrations in Germany, then Chancellor Angela Merkel ordered the withdrawal of Germany from nuclear, which generates electricity without the climate-heating emissions of burning fossil fuels.
Germany’s opposition parties have urged the government to keep all nuclear plants online, with some lawmakers suggesting the reopening of those already shut down and building of new reactors.
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