Highlights: Germany says goodbye to nuclear power with the shutdown of its last three reactors. They were granted a three-and-a-half-month extension last fall, but this time, the famous slogan "Atom Nein Danke", "Nuclear no thanks", becomes reality six decades later. In Lingen, near the border with the Netherlands, where one of the three plants still in operation is located, on D-1, general indifference reigns. The plant will need to be closely monitored and will take years to decommission, which will preserve jobs.

History will be turned tomorrow in Germany. The last three nuclear reactors will be shut down. They were granted a three-and-a-half-month extension last fall but...

Germany says goodbye to nuclear power with the shutdown of its last three reactors

The cooling tower at the Emsland nuclear power plant on the outskirts of Lingen, Germany, October 12, 2022. REUTERS - STEPHANE NITSCHKE

Text by: Pascal Thibaut Follow

3 min

History will be turned tomorrow in Germany. The last three nuclear reactors will be shut down. They were granted a three-and-a-half-month extension last fall, but this time, the famous slogan "Atom Nein Danke", "Nuclear no thanks", becomes reality six decades later.

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From our correspondent in Lingen,

In Lingen, near the border with the Netherlands, where one of the three plants still in operation is located, on D-1, general indifference reigns. The mass is said, because since 2011 it was clear that the Emsland power plant, the name of the region, would close at the end of 2022.

It is a recent installation inaugurated in 1988 that was part of the landscape without causing many waves. Small hostile demonstrations attracted activists from outside. The parents told the children that the cooling tower made clouds to evoke the steam emitted. The city of Lingen has benefited from nuclear power with significant tax revenues.

In this city, the turning point has been initiated, it is not a cleaver that falls tomorrow. The plant will need to be closely monitored and will take years to decommission, which will preserve jobs. And Lingen wants to keep its energy know-how, because it extracts gas and oil. From now on, wind farms in the nearby North Sea must deliver electricity that will be used to make hydrogen with a production that will eventually exceed that of today's nuclear power plant. But despite this serenity, many, as elsewhere in Germany, think that the efficient reactor could have been left running longer.

The abandonment of nuclear power in favour of renewable energies

Germany is abandoning nuclear power while several other countries are developing this energy source. It must be understood that opposition to nuclear power has a long history in Germany with important hostile movements. Many demonstrations against power plants, waste shipments have marked the history of the country. With the coming to power of the left-wing government allying Social Democrats and Greens under the leadership of Gerhard Schröder in 1998, the exit from nuclear power was negotiated with industrialists.

At the beginning of the last decade, the Merkel government pursued a zigzag policy. It extends the use of the plants before a 180-degree turn after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. Several old plants need to close quickly. For the others, a schedule provides for regular closures until the end of 2022. Three and a half months will have been added on arrival.

Last year, nuclear produced 6% of Germany's electricity. The industrialists who have been compensated have turned the page and are now betting on the development of renewable energies, nearly half of German electricity last year.

A nuclear abandonment that has sparked many debates

This nuclear phase-out had been planned for a long time. But until the end, discussions accompanied him. The war in Ukraine and its consequences for German energy policy explain these debates. The halt in Russian gas supplies has forced Germany to source elsewhere, but also to rely even more on coal, which is more polluting to produce electricity.

Why not extend the use of nuclear power any longer to reduce these environmentally harmful emissions? This is what the Christian Democrats are asking for even if their former Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had accelerated in timetable. And even within the ruling coalition, the Liberals regret not being able to impose an extension.

Economic circles were also in favour of it, fearing a rise in energy prices. And two-thirds of Germans support this option.

Germany says goodbye to nuclear power with the shutdown of its last three reactors

Germany says goodbye to nuclear power with the shutdown of its last three reactors

The abandonment of nuclear power in favour of renewable energies

A nuclear abandonment that has sparked many debates

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