Federal Minister Carsten Schneider has made the following statement in response to today's comments by the President of the European Commission:
"It speaks volumes that new subsidies for nuclear power plants form the core of this backward-looking strategy. When a high-risk technology is still propped up by state funds after three-quarters of a century, and when better alternatives have long since been available, it is important to act accordingly. I oppose spending even more taxpayers’ money on new, high-risk reactors.
Setting up new reactors on a notable scale would require very large amounts of money that would then not be available elsewhere. Additionally, these small nuclear power plants have been on the horizon for decades but have yet to become a realistic option. These plants are instead competing for subsidies. Even if plants get smaller, the problems, in total, get bigger.
Clean, safe electricity from wind and solar energy is affordable, has long been a driver of the energy transition and does not produce radioactive waste.
As far as Germany is concerned, instead of chasing a nuclear mirage, we will focus our resources on better, safer and more economic alternatives. Our country has become a much safer place thanks to our phase-out of nuclear power. The agreement reached on nuclear power in Germany 15 years ago was good for our country; we should not recklessly jeopardise that."