Two German ministers were questioned on Friday by a parliamentary committee regarding the way in which the last nuclear power plants in Germany were managed, writes DW. Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke were called to give statements after the German magazine Cicero reported that the Economy Ministry hid and falsified the recommendations of several experts who supported extending the plant’s operating period.
Cicero reported Thursday that Green Party officials acted in a “deceptive” manner, ignoring expert advice and trying to move forward with a nuclear phase-out that had been planned since 2011.
The government wanted to shore up energy supplies after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine saw Germany cut off Russian natural gas.
The report claims that experts were ignored
Following a court order, Cicero obtained documents from the Ministry of Economy regarding plans to extend the life of Germany’s last nuclear power plants. The documents included emails, memos, meeting minutes and letters.
The magazine claimed that top Green Party officials wanted to avoid extending the life of nuclear plants because of their decades-long political commitment to phase out nuclear power.
Cicero also claimed that experts paid by the ministries, who claimed that the nuclear facilities were still safe to operate, were ignored and that their assessments were sometimes deliberately falsified.
The magazine also accused Economy Minister Robert Habeck of misleading the public during a February 2022 television interview when he denied that extending the life of nuclear plants would help Germany with its energy needs in during the winter.
Habeck’s view clashed with advice from experts who said nuclear power could help save gas use and avoid an energy crisis, just as Germany was trying to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
A few months later, the government agreed to extend the life of the last three nuclear power plants by a few months.
Germany’s last three nuclear power plants – Isar 2 in Bavaria, Emsland in Lower Saxony and Neckarwestheim 2 in Baden-Württemberg – were finally shut down last April.
At the time, Germany’s decision to press ahead with the closure of its last nuclear power plants – leaving it even more dependent on gas and coal – was branded “madness” by critics.
How the ministers defended themselves
Speaking to the Bundestag’s Energy Committee, Habeck said his department had looked at the possible expansion of nuclear power plants at a very early stage.
He said the operators had initially stated that the existing fuel cells could only be used until the end of the current year.
Habeck referred to a February 2022 letter from energy firm Eon that stated the fuel cells would likely burn out by the end of 2022.
The operators later said the items could be used for up to five more months before extending their estimate further, he added.
At the time, Habeck’s Economy Ministry argued that Germany needed a substitute for Russian national gas, used mainly for heating rather than electricity, which nuclear power plants provided.
Meanwhile, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke insisted her department presented all events in a “transparent and understandable” manner.
The Green Party lawmaker emphasized that the assessments were “permanently oriented towards the nuclear safety of our country”.
The conservative opposition is demanding new hearings
The Cicero report sparked calls for transparency and possible investigations from members of the German Bundestag, as well as calls for the resignation of Economy Minister Robert Habeck, co-leader of the Greens, according to The Telegraph.
The conservative faction in the Bundestag has already demanded new hearings of Habeck and Lemke on these reports.
“There is still a reasonable assumption that Habeck’s ministry did the opposite of what it publicly announced. Distortion of the facts instead of an open examination,” Andreas Jung, a spokesman for the center-right CDU party, told the German news agency dpa.
“The suspicion is growing that the decision to phase out nuclear power was not made openly, but was determined from the beginning. That the people were tricked and deceived.” Andreas Lenz, political spokesman for the CSU – the sister party of the CDU in Bavaria.
Tags: Germanys Green Party accused lying safety nuclear power plants force closure
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