← → Germany shut down its three remaining nuclear power plants Saturday night shedding a source of low-carbon power that critics say is needed to meet the country’s climate goals The plants, initially set to be shut off in December, were kept online through the winter to help cope with a cut in the supply of imported Russian gas. With Germany now heading into summer, when demand for gas heating falls, leaders took the Emsland, Neckarwestheim II, and Isar II nuclear plants offline, the Associated Press reports and the loss of nuclear power could make it harder to reach this goal Averting Crisis, Europe Learns to Live Without Russian Energy Mission Statement: to assist the integration of foreign residents living in Spain and this is never more accurate than when you establish yourself as a foreign resident in a new country Being able to quickly familiarise yourself with the culture and customs can help ease the transition during a challenging time This is why Euro Weekly News makes it our mission to provide you with a free news resource in English that covers both regional and national Spanish news – anything that we feel you will benefit from knowing as you integrate into your new community and live your best life in Spain you can forget about translating articles from Spanish into awkward English that probably don’t make much sense Let us be your convenient and essential guide to all things that will likely affect you as a foreign resident living in Spain is leading the way with a new kind of traffic light often called the “traffic light of the future.” This smart signal is packed with advanced features and can adapt to road conditions intelligently Even though it might look like a regular traffic light It’s designed to make traffic flow better and keep roads safer Run by the Bavarian Ministry of Transport this traffic light is being tested out in a trial project The results will help decide how to use smart technology in more traffic lights all over Bavaria This smart traffic light can give priority to emergency vehicles like ambulances or fire engines It senses when they’re coming and turns red for other vehicles making it easier for emergency vehicles to get through without delay It also helps cyclists by showing them when the light will turn green and how long they have to wait it has systems in place to warn about possible collisions and helps with making turns safely Essenbach was picked for the trial because it’s near a fire station making it perfect for testing how well emergency vehicles get priority Plus, there’s a cycle path that crosses a traffic light making it great for testing out turning assistance and collision warning systems The cost of installing this smart traffic light is around €100,000 Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox Euro Weekly News is the leading English language newspaper in Spain by delivering news with a social conscience we are proud to be the voice for the expat communities who now call Spain home With around half a million print readers a week and over 1.5 million web views per month EWN has the biggest readership of any English language newspaper in Spain The paper prints over 150 news stories a week with many hundreds more on the web – no one else even comes close Our publication has won numerous awards over the last 25 years including Best Free Newspaper of the Year (Premios AEEPP) Company of the Year (Costa del Sol Business Awards) and Collaboration with Foreigners honours (Mijas Town Hall) All of this comes at ZERO cost to our readers All our print and online content always has been and always will be FREE OF CHARGE Download our media pack in either English or Spanish The shutdown of Germany’s last nuclear power stations may be imminent but its critics aren’t about to shut up.  the final three plants will be taken offline marking the end of atomic energy in the country and a major victory for anti-nuclear activists who have spent decades fighting for this moment.  criticism of the phaseout has only grown louder.  the switch-off is nothing short of lunacy — running counter to Europe’s efforts to swap fossil fuels for cleaner alternatives and diversify its energy supply The nuclear exit “is a black day for climate protection in Germany,” Jens Spahn, deputy parliamentary leader of the Christian Democrat (CDU) opposition, said this week.  The issue also splits the governing coalition in Berlin with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) calling for the nuclear plants to be kept on standby at the very least.  “Shutting down the world's most modern and safest nuclear power plants in Germany is a dramatic mistake that will have painful economic and ecological consequences,” said FDP deputy leader Wolfgang Kubicki But Climate Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens insisted in a statement Thursday that switching off the remaining plants — which generated between 4 and 6 percent of the country’s power over the past year — won’t affect energy security.  Last year, Habeck and his party were forced to accept a temporary delay to the phaseout as Germany scrambled to secure alternatives to Russian gas ahead of winter.  Habeck stressed that the decision to end nuclear power isn't only a Green one: “We are implementing a decision made by the [CDU] and the FDP in 2011,” he said.  following the meltdown of reactors at Japan’s Fukushima plant then-Chancellor Angela Merkel enshrined the 2022 deadline in law.  But the first steps toward a phaseout were taken under a Social Democrat-Green government in the early 2000s following decades of campaigning by anti-nuclear activists who had tapped into a general skepticism toward atomic power among Germans.  a party that grew out of the anti-nuclear movement the shutdown will mark the fulfillment of their foundational promise.  “A long struggle will end on Saturday,” said former Green Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin who negotiated the initial phaseout decision.  have shifted over the past two decades — and even many opponents of nuclear power are questioning the timing of the phaseout.  A YouGov study published this week found only a quarter of Germans want the remaining plants to be switched off this weekend About a third would back a temporary extension and another third prefer the shutdown be delayed indefinitely.  Just over half — 56 percent — of the party’s supporters want an immediate shutdown of the last reactors But the party leadership remains determined to put an end to nuclear energy in Germany, even as it has faced growing criticism for preferring to rely on polluting coal power plants in the event of a supply crunch.  While the country has massively stepped up its deployment of renewables, it still generates a third of its electricity from coal.  "This Green climate minister prefers to let coal-fired power plants run … rather than climate-neutral nuclear power plants,” the CDU’s Spahn said accusing the government of turning into a “coal coalition.”  say the slow pace of renewables expansion under previous CDU-led governments is to blame for Germany’s continued coal dependence.  The remaining three plants will be dismantled over the coming decades while ruling out the construction of new reactors: “The construction of new nuclear plants has always turned into an economic fiasco — whether in France many of its European neighbors are going in the opposite direction Finland’s new Olkiluoto 3 plant has completed testing and is ready to go online next week.  The energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had made many countries think again about relying on gas as the “baseload” back-up fuel to intermittent renewables, said a senior European Commission official. Instead, many countries increasingly see nuclear in that role. “The wind is blowing in the French direction,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a divisive topic within the EU. Dry conditions are spreading to virtually every area of the continent. People rarely think about Europe’s criss-crossing energy system. We tell you how it works, what went wrong (and right) on Monday and what happens next. There has not been any type of intrusion in the electrical network control systems,” authorities say. Portugal also remains in the dark following mass power outage south of the Pyrenees. We don’t flood you with panic-inducing headlines or race to be first We focus on being useful to you — breaking down the news in ways that inform We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today Can a country be a climate leader without nuclear power by Markham Heid LinkGeneral outside view of the Isar 2 nuclear power plant during dusk on April 13 the German government closed down the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants — the last vestiges of what was once a large domestic fleet While not everyone in Germany supported the closures many here — particularly supporters of the Greens (Die Grünen) one of the world’s strongest and most powerful environmentally focused political parties — viewed the event as the happy culmination of a decades-long battle to rid the country of nuclear energy “We are embarking on a new era of energy production,” said Steffi Lemke, a Greens member and Germany’s federal minister for the environment and nuclear safety, in a CNN interview following the plant closures Nuclear energy is a controversial topic in most places, but Germany is notable for its historic antipathy toward the technology. “Anti-nuclear sentiment in Germany is widespread and longstanding, and it’s highly correlated with concern for climate change,” says Pushker Kharecha, deputy director of the Climate Science, Awareness, and Solutions Program at Columbia University’s Earth Institute In the United States, Gallop polls going back 20 years have found that Americans are generally split on the subject of nuclear energy though support for nuclear has swelled in recent years he says that nuclear energy should be embraced — at least until better options come along But environmental advocacy groups and left-leaning American voters have traditionally opposed nuclear power. And, despite the president’s efforts, recent Gallup data suggest this is still the case: Less than half of Democrats back nuclear It’s not all that odd that environmentally conscious Germans would support finishing off the country’s long-dying nuclear sector one-third of Germany’s electricity in 2022 was generated from coal That represents an 8 percent increase compared to 2021 the country’s use of nuclear-generated electricity fell by almost 50 percent during the same period No less a climate-change evangelist than Greta Thunberg has argued publicly that Germany should prioritize the use of its existing nuclear facilities over burning coal Yet this is not the way the country has gone and there has been relatively little public protest or political handwringing over the increased use of coal-generated power to address its deficits Why would a country that stands out for its environmentalist bona fides — where the reality of climate change and the push for renewable energy sources has been embraced by all major political parties — choose coal over nuclear in the midst of an energy crisis A clearer understanding of Germany’s energy choices may help other countries better assess the risks and rewards of nuclear power Christoph Löffler was just 9 years old when a reactor melted down at the Soviet nuclear facility near Pripyat in what is now northern Ukraine but I remember Chernobyl,” Löffler says and people here paid more — double the price — for milk produced before a certain date.” a university city in southwest Germany that is one the greenest regions of the country — both literally and politically Freiburg is nestled on the western edge of the Black Forest It is one of the most eco-conscious cities in Europe and Greens politicians represent the mayorship and the largest bloc of the city’s municipal council The local citizenry’s anti-nuclear zeal is everywhere in evidence; flyers and graffiti around the city advocate for a future without nuclear power. A popular bumper sticker here, one that dates back to the 1970s depicts a smiling sun and the slogan “Atomkraft When I asked Löffler about nuclear energy he talked measuredly about its pros and cons I am more against it than for it,” he concluded a Greens politician here in Freiburg and elected member of the Bundestag (basically likewise raised the specter of a nuclear disaster we’ve always had in our tradition a more critical perspective on whether humans are capable of controlling every circumstance and we’ve already seen really catastrophic accidents,” she says and the residue of that disaster has likewise soaked deep into the nation’s views on nuclear power “Chernobyl was much bigger and closer to home for Germans than anything Americans have experienced,” says Sarah Wiliarty an associate professor of government at Wesleyan University in Connecticut “It was very much a lived threat.” Wiliarty has published work on the history of Germany’s nuclear industry She says the country’s anti-nuclear movement emerged alongside the environmental movement in the 1970s and Chernobyl helped weld the two together While overall support here for nuclear has ebbed and flowed over the years the Greens Party has never wavered in its opposition to nuclear more recent disaster helped align the rest of the country behind the Greens’ anti-nuclear agenda the nations of Europe are small and packed together Calamities that befall one country often have repercussions for their neighbors Some Germans I spoke with told me these sorts of threats are evidence that nuclear power is simply not worth the risk; even if you believe that operator or technological error has been removed from the equation — a debatable position — unforeseen events could still induce a nuclear accident “There is always the potential for an attack — a terrorist or cyber or war attack like we’re seeing in Ukraine,” says Kopf “It may be a small chance something like that happens just such a dramatic event caused Germany to abandon its nuclear industry the left [in Germany] had an anti-nuclear stance but the right wing was more favorable to nuclear,” Wiliarty says Merkel essentially said that if Japan can’t handle nuclear we should not believe that we can handle nuclear Mentioning the legacy of WWII, Wiliarty adds that the possibility, however remote, of causing another tragedy on the European continent is enough to make nuclear energy a nonstarter for many Germans. (This may help explain why Germany continues to buy nuclear-generated electricity from France even as it moves away from “homegrown” nuclear.) though a majority still oppose the construction of new plants this is a significant point of debate and division Using the nuclear facilities you already have is one thing Following a parent meeting at our children’s school, a friend of mine — a geologist named Peter Geerdts, 46 — scowled when he recalled the demolition in 2020 of the nuclear plants at Philippsburg One of those plants still had years of operational lifespan “That was a perfectly good piece of infrastructure.” He says his country’s push for more green and renewable sources of energy is all well and good But there are times when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow renewables alone can’t meet his country’s needs “So now we’re burning coal instead of using nuclear while trying to meet CO2 reduction targets,” he says “It doesn’t add up.” Many I spoke with here voiced similar views But some energy experts I talked with said that Germany has only shuttered nuclear plants that were end-of-life or otherwise unfit for service “Most of the plants — except where the plants were having serious technical problems — were shut down when they would have been shut down anyhow,” says Miranda Schreurs a professor of environment and climate policy at the Technical University of Munich On the broader question of whether the country’s abandonment of nuclear energy has made sense she says that it has certainly involved uncomfortable trade-offs “The priority no doubt has been the move away from nuclear “But the German response isn’t either-or it’s how do we get both out of the system as quickly as possible.” Germany has committed to ending its use of coal by 2030 It has also become one of the world leaders in the development and use of renewables something Schreurs says has only been possible because money and other resources that would have been sucked up by nuclear energy have instead been funneled into renewable technologies some argue that the country’s anti-nuclear priorities have come at a steep cost There are some unimpeachable justifications for opposing nuclear energy There’s the risk of a catastrophic accident and also the problem of storing or disposing of nuclear waste “​​From our point of view it’s not right to say nuclear is a sustainable technology,” says Kopf which is not extracted in an environmentally friendly way and there is no real solution for nuclear waste.” However, when making energy trade-offs, these risks must be balanced against the harms associated with the use of non-nuclear energy sources — such as air pollution and CO2 emissions produced by fossil fuels. According to estimates from Our World in Data nuclear is cleaner and safer than any power source apart from solar The number of deaths caused by either accidents or air pollution as a result of nuclear power is estimated to be just 0.03 deaths per terawatt-hour of energy produced far below the 18 deaths and 25 deaths per terawatt-hour associated with oil and coal sources the amount of carbon dioxide it emits to generate electricity is multiples higher than many of its neighbors but they’re also poisonous for people “By pursuing their complete nuclear phase-out policy over the past decade while continuing to heavily use fossil fuels Germany has lost the opportunity to prevent thousands of premature air pollution-induced deaths,” says Columbia University’s Kharecha His comments are grounded in some of his own peer-reviewed research. Similar analyses, including a more-recent paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) have likewise found that Germany’s withdrawal from nuclear resulted in thousands of preventable deaths mostly due to air pollution caused by the burning of coal That NBER paper also concluded that the phase-out cost the country $12 billion Kharecha acknowledges that Germany has done “a very impressive job” of rapidly scaling up solar and wind sources of energy production But he says the unreliability of renewables requires supplementation with other sources “Nuclear provides continuous ‘baseload’ power,” he says “Renewables and nuclear really should be viewed as complementary choices But other energy experts say renewables and nuclear make poor bedfellows. “One of the issues with nuclear is its inflexibility — it either operates at 100 percent or zero, and you can’t just flip a switch and turn it on or off,” says Andrzej Ancygier, a lecturer at New York University’s Berlin satellite campus and a senior energy and climate policy analyst at Climate Analytics flexible complementary energy sources are needed nuclear power plants have a finite lifespan To extend that lifespan requires significant investments of both cash and time “Operating a plant longer than is planned .. but I can understand the discussion there,” Ancygier says he argues that building new nuclear facilities now makes little sense: “Economically and from a climate change perspective and they always take much longer to build than planned.” Schreurs, the Technical University of Munich professor, makes a similar point. She says that very few Western nations, even pro-nuclear countries, have managed to build new nuclear plants in recent years. Those that have tried — for example, the UK’s still-in-progress Hinkley Point power plant — have run into major delays and massive budget overruns “The upfront costs of nuclear are immense and the time to build new plants is on average something like 10 years,” she says “If you’re talking about building new facilities to reduce emissions quickly it’s hard to argue for nuclear over renewables.” Columbia’s Kharecha agrees that high costs and long lead times are arguably the biggest challenges for new nuclear and history has shown that they can be overcome “France and Sweden built lots of reactors very rapidly and neither country has experienced major problems with them,” he says But here again, there are valid counterarguments. In 2022, more than half of France’s nuclear reactors were shut down unexpectedly for maintenance reasons, and the country had to rely on German energy imports to meet its shortfalls Schreurs highlights these problems as evidence that nuclear too can be unreliable Germany’s move away from nuclear and toward renewables has forced it to rely on fossil fuels Proponents of this strategy say this reliance is temporary — a short-lived trade-off that will allow Germany to power itself cheaply Some will no doubt scoff at this argument. In the US, many still view solar and other renewables as unreliable energy sources that cannot anchor a country’s electricity industry But even some American observers say the German view of renewables’ potential may be closer to reality “When Germany first pivoted away from nuclear and prioritized renewables in 2000 but they’ve had a lot more success than many anticipated,” says Wesleyan’s Wiliarty “I think getting to a point where they’re not using nuclear or fossil fuels is realistic He says German policymakers have at times vacillated in their support for renewables — something that has slowed progress the current government has affirmed its commitment to renewables and its stated policy aims are for these sources to make up 80 percent of the country’s electricity production by 2030 The great debate over nuclear energy is sure to rage on the lesson other countries may take from Germany is that abandoning nuclear in favor of safer and greener renewables is possible but that it comes with uncomfortable trade-offs It also requires political will and broad public support Whether it can sustain them will likely determine how much success it has Markham Heid is a freelance journalist who chiefly covers health and science His work has appeared in the New York Times we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you — threats to democracy and the rising polarization across this country accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth independent reporting that drives meaningful change MembershipMonthlyAnnualOne-time$5/month$10/month$25/month$50/monthOther$50/year$100/year$150/year$200/yearOther$25$50$100$250OtherJoin for $10/monthWe accept credit card complicated problems the world faces and the most efficient ways to solve them Sorry, a robot is probably a safer driver than most humans. OpenAI released a model that tells users they’re right — no matter what. That’s more dangerous than it seems. A federal program killed nearly 2 million wild animals last year. The reason might surprise you. In its first 100 days, the Trump administration has moved to roll back food safety measures, endanger slaughterhouse workers, and more. Two nuclear plants’ lives extended as country copes with loss of Russian gas and shortage of French electricity Germany’s planned exit from nuclear power by the end of this year has been officially delayed in order to shore up energy supplies during an expected shortfall this winter The decision follows a shortage in supplies of electricity coming from France due to the fact that more than half of its nuclear power stations are offline He said that the resulting gap in electricity supplies was being “observed with concern” with Europe’s energy network in danger of being put under too much strain The electricity that Germany is not able to acquire from France is being compensated for with electricity produced by gas-fired power stations in Germany But this in turn involves using up valuable supplies of gas that Germany is trying to save before winter arrives Germany’s three remaining nuclear power stations were due to be turned off at the end of this year The decision to withdraw from nuclear power was made by the government of Angela Merkel after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan Habeck had long resisted calls for the power plants in southern Germany – Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 – to be extended as Germany coped with the effect of Russia slowing down its gas supply via the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 earlier this month But his arguments against keeping the plants in operation became increasingly difficult to defend despite being in favour of moving away from nuclear power has said it is in favour of extending the plants’ use temporarily Habeck had announced earlier this month that the plants would be put into a standby mode but would effectively stay offline unless needed though Habeck said it was a reaction to the current situation including what he called an escalation of the situation in Russia and that he was resistant to populist demands Habeck said that the necessary changes to the law covering the extension of the plants would be voted on in the Bundestag at the end of next month and whether nuclear plants may be open to hacking attacks and terrorist threats Habeck said the government was well aware of the concerns and was “doing its utmost” to secure them German and Danish authorities were examining evidence on Tuesday suggesting that the Nord Stream pipelines 1 and 2 may have been deliberately damaged on Monday night in an act of sabotage after dramatic drops of pressure in them and evidence of gas leaking into the Baltic Sea with possible explosions Fingers have inevitably been pointed at Russia as a possible culprit The incident has heightened concerns over the vulnerability of energy infrastructure in Europe Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information The Isar nuclear power plant near Essenbach 2022 at 8:03 AM EDTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signaled that his government might consider extending the life of the country’s three remaining nuclear plants as it seeks to bolster its energy security “The economy minister has commissioned an intensified worst-case scenario calculation when asked Friday whether he might reconsider Germany’s decision to switch off the units at the end of the year Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times 2023 at 9:41 AM EDTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.High inflation and rising interest rates are driving up the cost of a new generation of miniature atomic reactors that the nuclear industry is relying on to lift sales and help meet climate targets Nuclear-company executives and regulators met this week at the International Atomic Energy Agency to negotiate potential manufacturing and technology standards a key step the industry needs to take in order to make prices competitive with other emissions-free energy sources There are currently more than 80 unique small modular reactor resulting in sprawling supply chains and caps on scaling up production Sign In Subscribe Now Jonathan Woodhall is well aware of Shakespeare’s classic monologue that begins he stood on the world stage with two gold medals around his neck at the World Organization of Martial Arts Athletes World Martial Games XVI Woodhall’s world debut at the July 22-24 Games in Essenbach as he won gold in two different divisions: traditional Kenpo karate forms and open creative weapons which was the same day a shooter opened fire at a nearby mall killing nine people and injuring 36 others “I won by two gold medals on the first day about the same time as a gunman killed nine people,” he recalls “Me and the rest of Team Canada went out for dinner and while we were having dinner we found out about the news.” Having qualified for the Worlds at the 2016 Tiger Balm Internationals in March in Vancouver Woodhall gave one demonstration in each event He was part of an 11-person Canadian delegation The event included competitors from the US “There were rumours there was an Afghanistan team there Rumour has it he opted not to be part of the opening ceremonies If it hadn’t been for rumours we wouldn’t have known he was there at all,” Woodhall said Woodhall paid his own way to the championships but was grateful for about $1,000 worth of sponsorship from various local sources including House of Kenpo Karate where he trains with sensei Don Roe A return trip to the Worlds is up in the air If I’m not mistaken karate is going to be in the 2020 Olympics We’ll see what happens to the World Martial Arts Games because (they) along with some other world-level tournaments the 27-year-old Woodhall notes he’s got four years to decide For now he is focussed on his Step #1 personal training business which he has been operating for just over a year “I’ve had the honour of training world-class athletes and also people who are just starting – hence the name Step #1.” Woodhall offers personal training at Fitness Excellence “I’ve trained people as young as 13 and as old as in their 70s and 80s “You can come to me in any shape or skill level You want a personal trainer who’s going to give you a proper health screening take your personal needs and run with them If you just show up to a personal trainer and he gives you a cookie cutter workout routine it’s no good Those interested can check out Step #1 at www.jonwoodhall.com Woodhall has been honing his skills at House of Kenpo for nine years starting in 2003 and taking a few years off between then and now He recalls his interest in karate began as a result of bullying at school until the point where I decided the teachers aren’t helping me and I can’t rely on anyone else to do this His dad got him enrolled at the House of Kenpo and he earned his 1st degree black belt when he was 19 Woodhall’s hard work and determination since then has elevated him to the highest level of his sport Woodhall says Germany was a positive experience with residents very environmentally friendly “Everywhere I went there were solar panels all over these very old historic houses More than once I saw someone walking down the street stop and pull out recycling and put it in the recycling.” including a Third Reich Munich walking tour that included paying his respects at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site Woodhall said he had a small acting career when he was living in Vancouver and taking acting lessons at Capilano University he was in a web series called Choose Your Victims and a film called Project Ego One of his favourite acting gigs was right here in the Comox Valley in the play Cats “I’m just an average human being just like anyone else and if you put your mind to something you can accomplish the exact same thing if you really want to.” Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. We ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines Germany’s environment minister signaled she’s willing to consider extending the operating life of an EON SE nuclear plant in Bavaria into next year if an ongoing government assessment concludes this is necessary.