…and ends an era which once was characterised by the promise of abundant cheap energy that was shattered during the disaster at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 and buried after Fukushima-Daiichi in 2011. Nuclear energy in this Central European country has always been a contested issue, and the scale of it made it inevitable for society to debate its use.
After World War Two, both Germanies embarked on the nuclear journey to take part in this then futuristic new technology. After the nuclear bombs had been thrown on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it became clear that in order to secure any form of independent statehood a country needed to have nuclear weapon capacities of some sort to protect itself. For Western Germany, this was done through a deal with the USA that technically is still valid today: The US would station some nuclear weapons on Western German soil and in the case of a war against the USSR, West German air planes and fighter pilots would use these bombs as part of a bigger scheme NATO under the leadership of the US had prepared. Eastern Germany also embarked on the nuclear journey, building basically two relevant facilities: a research reactor facility at Rheinsberg and a massive industrial nuclear power plant at Greifswald. After NATO was formed and Western Germany had joined it, the East answered with the creation of the Warsaw Pact, which equally foresaw nuclear protection for the GDR. That being written, it was clear for every German, no matter whether born in Leipzig or in Düsseldorf, that nuclear war in Europe would inevitably lead to the complete destruction of Germany as a whole. Nuclear weapons are after all political weapons: as soon as they are used they lose their purpose and destroy everything. Yet the path a country has to take in order to obtain these weapons is riddled with potentially dangerous stepping stones.
In post-unification years, the nuclear industry tried very hard to always separate the civil usages of nuclear energy from its military roots and implications. While the aftermath of World War II prevented Germany to officially get her own nuclear weapons, at least the Federal Republic did procure every step of the nuclear lifespan on its own territory – with the exception of considerable uranium mining – to have the foundation to create nuclear weapons if at some stage the need shall occur. And that leads us to a very important point often overlooked in the German debate on quitting nuclear energy: the facilities in Gronau and Lingen.
The uranium enrichment facility in Gronau, partially owned by the states of Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany, will continue to produce enriched nuclear fuel (3-6%). Its capacity at the moment is 3,700t of product per year. Its work will not be hindered by the official stop to use nuclear energy. Instead, the enriched uranium will be continued to be exported.
The other facility in Lingen, located in Lower Saxonia, creates fuel elements. Owner of this facility is the Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH, which belongs to the French nuclear giant Framatome. Lingen produces conventional fuel elements, nuclear fuel in powder or pellet from, and zirconium alloys. Most produce is being exported. Two of the biggest customers are the disputed Belgian nuclear power plants in Doel and Tihange.
So, the so-called “Atomausstieg” is actually only a partial ending of the active nuclear legacy in Germany. Now a new chapter can begin: that of decommissioning and what Tatiana Kasperski and Anna Storm have coined as eternal care. The country lacks an option for storing nuclear waste and as of now has no concept of how to deal with the scores of irradiated material. Let’s see, how this will be solved. After all, the current situation does also open the possibility to create new ways and understandings of how to deal with the residue of the nuclear age.
Today, 15 April 2023, is a day to celebrate. Generations of people have protested against nuclear energy in Germany. Today a very important step towards a nuclear free country has been taken. Let’s make it a memorable day!
Further readings:
Bauchmüller, Michael: Kernkraft made in Germany, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 11 March 2021.
Discover more from Achim Klüppelberg
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Achim Klüppelberg 