Germany turns the page on nuclear power: last fights of pro and anti in Berlin

Berlin, April 15, 2023: Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the dragon is slain by anti-nuclear activists. Pro and anti-nuclear give voice while close this Saturday the last three reactors in operation. AP - Markus Schreiber

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3 min

A page of history is turning today in Germany with the definitive abandonment of civil nuclear power. The last three reactors will stop operating during the day. For environmentalists and environmental organizations, it is a decades-long struggle that ends in victory even if the time is not to celebrate, while the supporters of nuclear power also give voice.

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with our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibaut

In Berlin, Greenpeace is holding an all-day rally in the city centre. At the foot of the Brandenburg Gate, a dinosaur is on its back. On his belly we can read "German nuclear power crushed on April 15, 2023". On the shield of St. George erected on the monster the famous slogan "Atom Nein danke", "Nuclear no thanks".

Greenpeace plans on this symbolic site various speeches including that of the ecologist Jürgen Trittin, Minister of the Environment from 1998, and who negotiated the abandonment of nuclear power. Ce Saturday, the crowd of the big nights is not at the rendezvous. It is true that Mass is said and that the weather is grayish. But "we are happy that it's over," says Paul-Marie Manière of Greenpeace Germany. Now we must push towards 100% renewables! In 2030, 80% is feasible and it is important that Germany shows that it is feasible, that it is cheaper and that it makes more independent... »

The concerns of Germans about the energy crisis make many wonder. Six out of ten people believe that the last reactors could have been left to run a little longer. Moreover, on the other side of the Brandenburg Gate, supporters of nuclear power, including from other European countries, are demonstrating. Even if for Germany the battle seems beautiful and well lost, "for me, this is not the end! says Andreas Fischner, a member of the Nuklearia organization. We are in a huge energy crisis, in France, in Germany and the only solution is nuclear power!

► Read also: In Europe, the nuclear camp has the wind in its sails

Other demonstrations are taking place this Saturday at the sites of the last three reactors that will stop working during the day. Opponents of nuclear power want to celebrate their victory.

Mobilization in Lingen on the Framatome site

In Lingen, where one of the plants that are closing is located, opponents of nuclear power continue their fight this time against the ANF plant, which belongs to the French group Framatome and produces fuel rods for power plants. The ecologists no longer want it and they denounce cooperation with the Russian Rosatom: for the anti-nuclear, it is unthinkable to produce radioactive fuel in Germany after the closure of the last plants. The environment minister of Lower Saxony, where Lingen is located, appealed to his party comrade, Federal Economy Minister Robert Habeck, and demanded that the Framatome plant be closed. A decision that would undoubtedly lead to long legal disputes and compensation.

► Read also: Greenpeace accuses the France of being "under control" of Russia on the nuclear issue

Deliveries of Russian uranium to Lingen are another bone of contention, such as Framatome's joint project with Russia's Rosatom to produce fuel for Soviet-style power plants in Eastern Europe. Russian activist Vladimir Sliwyak, founder of the NGO Ecodefense, who received the Alternative Nobel Prize in 2021 and now lives in exile in Germany, drives the point home: "All deliveries of Russian uranium to Lingen must be stopped immediately because all the money recovered by Moscow will be used for the war against Ukraine. I hope Germany will take such a decision! »

The regional Minister of the Environment, who must or must not authorize this project, rejects it: "We must not do business with Putin, this applies to nuclear power," says Christian Meyer, who welcomes Robert Habeck's recent statements in favor of European sanctions against Russian uranium deliveries.

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• Germany
• Energies
• Nuclear