Opponents of nuclear power suffered a setback in Berlin on Thursday as the federal parliament approved legislation that would effectively repeal Germany’s planned withdrawal from atomic power. Now nuclear plants can stay open an average of 12 years longer than originally planned.
Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen, a member of Merkel’s CDU, countered criticism by saying: “You are at a dead loss when it comes to energy policy.” He said the Greens, SPD and far-left Left Party were scaremongering and merely seeking to gain votes. “They are placing their party interests before the interests of the country,” he said. Röttgen also stated that his government’s energy plan — which foresees 80 percent of all electricity coming from clean energy sources by 2050 — was the most ambitious renewable energy program in the world.
The Green Party, in particular, sought in vain on Thursday to prevent the vote at the last minute.
Jörg van Essen, a senior party official with the FDP, angered many with his statement that, “it has never done any parliament in history good when a party appeared appeared wearing the same uniform,” a statement he made while staring at the Greens. Members of the party were angered by the statement, which they considered to be a comparison to the uniformed Nazi members of parliament during the Weimar Republic era.
Meanwhile, members of the government accused the Greens of disobeying parliament. “The Greens need to know one thing: The greater the racket they cause, the more damage they do to themselves in terms of how seriously they are taken outside,” said Peter Altmaier, a senior member of the CDU.
The quiet renaissance is continuing in other parts of Europe as well. The Financial Times points out that:
In Italy, which decommissioned its four power stations after the country voted for a moratorium following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the government is considering new nuclear power stations. Sweden has embarked on a similar path, voting earlier this summer to overturn a 30-year-old ban on new reactors. Neighbouring Finland has announced plans to build two reactors in addition to one already under construction. In the UK, the coalition government, is also backing new plants.
Several east European countries, many of which are dependent on gas imports from Russia, are also proposing new reactors.
“Globally, there is a nuclear revival,” says Colette Lewiner, head of the Energy and Utilities division at Capgemini, “but it is much bigger and sustained in Asian countries, in particular in China, which has proposals to put eight to nine reactors into operation a year.”
For Europe’s cash-strapped governments, hit by the credit crunch, extending the life of an existing reactor is much cheaper than building a new one. In France, for example, recent estimates suggested it would cost about €500m ($697m) to extend the life of a 1,000MW reactor for 20 years. This compares with a cost of about €3bn for the same capacity from a new one that would have a lifespan of about 60 years, says Ms Lewiner.
On the fuel supply side as well companies are developing strategies and positioning themselves to take advantage of the renaissance. From London South East comes the news that:
Severstal, the largest steelmaker in Russia, has made a bid approach for its first uranium asset in Spain, seeking to diversify its mining business and benefit from an expected rise in European demand for nuclear power.
Severstal has approached Berkeley Resources Ltd about a possible takeover of the uranium exploration company worth about A$304 million ($294.9 million), sending Berkeley shares sharply higher in London. Severstal is considering a cash bid for Berkeley, also listed in Sydney, at A$2.00 (122 pence) per share, Berkeley said in a statement on Friday.
The big due diligence question will concern the start-up of a uranium concentrate line that is part of the Salamanca project, Renaissance Capital analyst Boris Krasnojenov said. The line operated for 16 years before closing in 2000 due to low uranium prices. ‘Some people believe that nuclear generation is the future for Europe because regulation measures linked to coal generation emissions will increase,’ Krasnojenov said.
Tags: Germany, Nuclear power, Nuclear renaissance
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