Energy
Germany’s EON and RWE Dismiss Calls to Bring Back Nuclear Power
- Opposition CDU proposes reviving Germany’s atomic plants
- Energy firms doubt it’s viable to bring back nuclear power
RWE’s Emsland nuclear power plant in Lingen, in 2023.
Photographer: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
German companies EON SE and RWE AG dismissed calls to restart their decommissioned nuclear power plants, as the energy source becomes a political issue ahead of elections in February.
Germany switched off its last reactors in April 2023, sticking to a decision made 12 years earlier by former Chancellor Angela Merkel, following the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. However, Merkel’s CDU opposition is now questioning the move, as Europe’s biggest economy also phases out coal and a plan to build new gas-fired power plants is delayed.