Tough decisions on nuclear power

Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday 12/8/2010 Page: 7

THE German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has made combating climate change one of her priorities.

But she is having difficulty finding consensus even within her own government on a new energy policy, especially on the most contentious issue: the future of nuclear plants. Governments around the globe are seeking cleaner ways to generate power and trying to reduce their dependence on foreign oil and natural gas at the same time. And most countries are deciding they cannot do without nuclear power, at least in the immediate future. But in Germany, citizens are less sure about whether nuclear power should be part of the solution to combat climate change.

With electricity demand expected to grow only slowly, opponents argue that keeping the country's 17 nuclear power plants going would detract from the effort to develop other renewable sources of energy. Indeed, the cabinet agreed this month to an action plan to have energy from solar, wind and other renewable sources represent 20% of energy consumption by 2020, up from 10% now. Supporters argue that nuclear power, which provides 11% of Germany's electricity, is a reliable and relatively inexpensive part of the energy mix that should not be abandoned.

The changed economic landscape is also influencing the difficult balancing act as the government struggles to draft its new energy policy, which is to be presented next month. Some German leaders want Dr Merkel to reclaim the global initiative for Europe by setting even more ambitious goals on renewable energy. But others caution against making demands that could endanger the economic recovery that has just taken hold in Germany - led by export-driven, energy intensive heavy industries. "Merkel wants to demonstrate that she still is committed to reducing greenhouse gases", said Claudia Kemfert, at the economic research institute DIW in Berlin. "But no matter which energy sector she looks at, she is confronted by powerful lobbies".

In 2002, the previous government, led by a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, passed a law requiring that all German nuclear power stations be closed by 2022 and not be replaced. Dr Merkel did not dare question that law during her first term, when she shared power with the Social Democrats. The more business-friendly Free Democrats, her coalition partners since October, have a different approach. The party leader, Guido Westerwelle, has said he wants the life of the power plants to be prolonged. He even supported the coal industry provided production was "cleaner, modern and more efficient". Dr Merkel and her Christian Democrats have yet to take a firm position but are generally considered sympathetic to extending the life of the nuclear plants.