Engineers Australia
September, 2006, Page: 39
The incumbent government of Germany is to consider the reversal of the phase-out of nuclear power in Germany next year. The energy policy set by the prior government of Gerhard Schroder's coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the Greens is to undergo review in an analysis of the country's energy use.
Germany currently receives one third of its energy from nuclear power. The previous government scheduled to phase out nuclear power with a law that put a restriction to 32 years on the residual operating life of a reactor. This law brought into effect the phasing-out of the 17 plants still in operation over the next 15 years. The law also placed a ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants.
The formation of the grand coalition between the Christian and Social Democrats in September 2005 has raised the possibility of extending reactor lifetimes. Utilities are hoping to extend all 17 reactor lifetimes initially to 40 years, and some will then individually seek extensions to 60 years to be in line with the life expectancy of US reactors.
Seventeen experimental and commercial reactors have been shut down and are currently being decommissioned. Eleven have involved full demolition and site clearance.
The decommissioning of these reactors is expected to create about 10,000m3 of waste. Decommissioning the currently operating reactors is expected to produce some 115,000m3 of such wastes.
Current policy requires a deep repository to be located by 2030. In the meantime, all spent fuel and radioactive material from the decommissioned plants is required to stay on site until the deep repository is open.
Energy in Germany is the most expensive in Europe. Around half of the country's energy is derived from coal fired power stations.
As the country has signed the Kyoto Protocol, the government supports the development of cleaner burning and more efficient power stations. Supercritical boilers, designed to operate in elevated temperature and pressure environments, are currently being developed to retrofit old stations and for construction of new ones.
Germany leads Europe as the greatest solar and wind electricity generator. Its energy sector is predicting up to 25% of the German energy market will be by renewable sources within 15 years. The country's emphasis on renewable energy sources has resulted in the founding of numerous high-tech companies developing such technologies.
Germany is also a major exporter of wind turbines. 157,000 people work in the renewable energy sector in Germany, with a 5% increase in exports last year.
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