The operators of the German nuclear power plants have clearly rejected calls for an extension of the service life with a view to greater independence from Russian gas.
"Continued operation of our Isar 2 nuclear power plant beyond the statutory end date of 2022 is not an issue for us," said a spokesman for the energy company Eon of the Düsseldorf Rheinische Post in the Saturday edition.
“Years ago, the legislature decided that nuclear power had no future in Germany.
It is strange to start a debate about this in Germany shortly before the shutdown.”
EnBW made a similar statement.
The Neckarwestheim 2 plant will be finally shut down by December 31, 2022 at the latest, an EnBW spokesman told the newspaper.
"The question of extending the running times does not arise for EnBW.
The phasing out of nuclear energy was decided in 2011 in a political and social consensus and is clearly regulated by law.
The use of nuclear energy has thus ended in Germany.”
The RWE group, which operates the Emsland nuclear power plant, referred to an earlier statement by RWE boss Markus Krebber, who had said: “The issue of nuclear power is off the table in Germany.
In the short term, it would not even be possible to restart the nuclear power plants.”
Among others, the former EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger (CDU) had called for an extension of the terms in order to be less dependent on Russian gas.
Against the background of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the head of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Clemens Fuest, also advocated not taking the German nuclear power plants still in operation off the grid for the time being.
Fuest told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" (Saturday) that this should apply at least "until the dependence on Russian natural gas has been overcome, which is likely to be several years".