It's Time for Germany to Admit Its Mistake on Nuclear Energy
The main thing standing in the way of the country rebuilding its nuclear sector is a stubborn insistence that it can’t be done.
“Nuclear power? No, thanks.”
Photographer: RONNY HARTMANN/AFPAngela Merkel’s freshly released autobiography admits to few wrong turns in her 16 years as German chancellor. Among the momentous decisions she doesn’t regret is Germany’s frantic withdrawal from nuclear energy in favor of Russian gas. But the country should rethink this. Everyone else is — and for good reason.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s outgoing coalition may not admit it, but their completion of Merkel’s accelerated nuclear exit was a mistake. When Scholz took office in 2021, Germany imported half of its gas and coal and a third of its oil from Russia. Then Russia invaded Ukraine, and Germany had to find expensive replacements. The country’s last nuclear plants were closed in April 2023 even though they still provided 12.6% of electricity in 2021.