Back to nuclear power? A study shows how much the re-entry would cost Germany

Back to nuclear power? A study shows how much the re-entry would cost Germany Neue Zürcher Zeitung Germany Back to nuclear power? A study shows how much the re-entry would cost Germany Johannes C. Bockenheimer, Berlin • 17 hours • 3 minutes reading time The Brokdorf nuclear power plant in Schleswig-Holstein was shut down in 2021. According to a study, it would be technically possible to start up the reactor quickly. It was a particularly bad moment for the phase-out: when the German government coalition took the last three nuclear power plants offline in April 2023, the country was in the midst of the biggest energy crisis in its history. Russia's attack on Ukraine had driven up energy prices, which consumers and, not least, industrial companies felt. But Berlin remained firm: Nuclear power? No thanks. Twenty months later, the situation is still tense. The price of electricity for large industrial consumers has almost tripled since 2021, to just under 14 cents per kilowatt hour today. The remaining nuclear power plants could therefore provide some relief in this situation. Investments of 20 billion euros necessary The American consulting firm Radiant Energy Group has now calculated what a re-entry into nuclear energy would cost. The result: With investments of around 20 billion euros, nine German reactors could be brought back online. By comparison, the construction of the LNG infrastructure alone after the end of Russian gas supplies cost over 15 billion euros. The economic viability would also be there: With a power purchase price of 100 euros per megawatt hour, the reactors could generate more than 100 billion euros in profit over the next twenty years, the company calculates. It also points to a current example from the USA: The software company Microsoft recently signed a groundbreaking agreement. The company wants to pay between 110 and 115 US dollars per megawatt hour to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the state of Pennsylvania. According to the study, three reactors in Germany could be reactivated particularly quickly. The Brokdorf reactor in Schleswig-Holstein could be producing electricity again as early as the end of 2025. The Emsland and Grohnde power plants in Lower Saxony could follow by 2028. Six more reactors would be operational again by 2032. Economist urges fair risk distribution Energy expert Manuel Frondel from the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research also sees potential in a restart. "If you want to achieve the climate targets cost-effectively, the reactivation of nine nuclear power plants would certainly be very helpful, especially with a service life of twenty years," he said in an interview with the NZZ. From an economic point of view, the reactivation would be a benefit in particular because less electricity would then have to be imported from abroad at high prices at night, Frondel continued. The economist, however, calls for clear financing rules. The nuclear power volumes should be auctioned, he demands, and the proceeds should go into the "fund for financing nuclear waste disposal". This would prevent society from ultimately bearing the disposal costs while private companies pocket the profits. Technically, a restart would be feasible, but not easy. The managing director of the TÜV association, Joachim Bühler, is convinced of this. He believes that restarting the three most recently shut down nuclear power plants would be "extremely demanding in terms of safety, but not impossible", as he told the NZZ. However, time is of the essence. With each additional dismantling measure, reactivation becomes more complex, he warns. In his opinion, at least three years would have to be planned for restarting the three newest reactors. Politicians have already written off nuclear power However, Berlin does not want to hear of such considerations. Nuclear power is a "dead horse", stated current Chancellor Olaf Scholz shortly after the nuclear power phase-out last year. Nuclear energy is not competitive, assisted Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. The Union is divided on the issue. CDU leader and opposition leader Friedrich Merz declared the issue of nuclear energy "decided" at the beginning of the year. Later, energy experts from the party presented a concept paper in which they called for an examination of the restart of reactors. New reactor concepts should also be researched. A new build is not called for. The FDP is much more open in the debate. "If companies are prepared to invest in nuclear power without subsidies, there must be no ideological bans on thinking," said energy policy spokesman Lukas Köhler in an interview with the NZZ. Market-based solutions are needed that promote growth and technological innovations.