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Germany and Finland: Two sides of the nuclear energy coin in Europe

2023-04-22 20:06:11Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Germany and Finland: Two sides of the nuclear energy coin in Europe
The shutdown of the remaining German reactors coincides with the start-up of a new reactor on the Finnish coast

The shutdown of Germany's remaining nuclear reactors coincided with the opening of a new one in Finland, the first in more than 15 years in the European Union (EU). Both countries are highly vulnerable to Russian energy sources, but represent two opposing European visions of the always controversial nuclear energy.

The timing could not have been more inopportune. Almost 12 years after Angela Merkel's administration decided to abandon nuclear power after the Fukushima (Japan) disaster, three power plants were disconnected from the grid and closed: Isar 2 (Bavaria); Neckarwestheim 2 (Baden-Württemberg); and Emsland (Lower Saxony). A few hours later, Europe's largest reactor was inaugurated 1,000 miles to the north. After nearly 15 years of construction and many cost overruns, the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant started producing 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, about 1/7 of Finland's total electricity demand.

The start of the Finnish reactor was a difficult road: it was originally planned to be completed in 2009 and cost 12 billion dollars, three times more than the original estimate. With Finnish conservatives maintaining a firm grip on power, more nuclear power projects are expected. Petteri Orpo, the front-runner in the race for prime minister, often says in campaign speeches that nuclear power should be the "cornerstone of Finnish energy policy."

The brutal energy shock exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has recently reignited the debate about the role of nuclear power in Europe. Germany delayed the shutdown of its reactors by four months amid the energy crisis, and several political parties (including Merkel's center-right CDU party) have reversed their initial positions. The International Energy Agency (the energy arm of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) has emerged as a leading advocate for nuclear reactors in a context increasingly dominated by renewable energy. An International Energy Agency report last summer noted growing momentum for nuclear power in many countries given rising fuel prices and growing concerns about sustainable energy supplies.

"If Germany is closing reactors, it is because of ideological factors, not because of economic issues or climate change. There is more fear of a nuclear accident and waste than of global warming," said Alejandro Zurita, former head of international nuclear research cooperation at Euratom. "It seems irrational to shut down plants that have operated safely for decades and help curb CO₂ emissions.

Although wind and photovoltaic power are gaining ground in Germany, Europe's largest economy and most populous country, fossil fuels will have to fill part of the gap left by the closure of nuclear plants (6% of Germany's electricity in 2022). Polluting coal plants still produce a third of the country's electricity but will have to shut down by 2038.

In contrast, Finland justified the Olkiluoto plant decision in the early 2000s with two arguments that remain valid today - energy independence and compliance with emission limits. "Fossil fuel plants must be replaced by accelerating the development of renewable energy without giving up nuclear power generation," said Zurita.

Consultant and environmentalist Mycle Schneider, author of one of the most comprehensive annual reports on the global state of nuclear power, doesn't see it that way. "What we see in Germany is a measured but faster version of a European trend: the decline of the nuclear industry," he told EL PAÍS in an e-mail. "It's a progressive shutdown - the rate of renewal is insufficient for nuclear power to survive."

Schneider, a German expert based in Paris, says that in the last 30 years EU countries have connected 16 new reactors, closed 47 and started construction on only two: Flamanville 3 (in France) and Olkiluoto 3. "Since the construction of these buildings began. , the cost of solar [photovoltaic] energy has been reduced by 90% and wind energy by 70%. It is simply impossible for a nuclear plant to compete with those low costs,” he said. Over the same period, the EU has added 157 GW of solar capacity, wind has added 175 GW and nuclear has caused a loss of 24 GW in capacity.

Paris and Berlin dominate the debate

Apart from the different ways of Berlin and Helsinki, the nuclear energy debate is still dominated by the two main continental powers: Germany, which has the unwavering support of Spain and Austria, and France, which is backed by several Eastern European countries.

A large part of German society strongly opposes nuclear power, unlike French society and its government. France is heavily dependent on nuclear power, even during 2022 when a plague of technical issues caused the shutdown of many power plants. 60% of France's electricity is nuclear, perhaps because before its corporate restructuring in 2016, Areva - a global powerhouse in building nuclear plants - was majority owned by the French state. Areva was the lead engineering firm for Olkiluoto 3. However, the future of nuclear power will not be driven by France, Germany or the EU, Zurita says, but by "China, India, South Korea and other developing countries" that they are growing up so fast.

Europe has been, is and will be a center of conflicting opinions. Germany is decidedly against nuclear power, for some ideological reasons, for others it is a security and economic choice. On the other hand, you have France, once a giant and undisputed champion of nuclear power and eager to re-invest and reclaim that country. From the French point of view, renewable energy is too unpredictable for a sustainable energy grid. Batteries will not be cost effective in the near future. Fossil fuels must be phased out of the production mix, and this leaves a huge problem. How to provide sustainable economic electricity for millions of people? The answer for them is only nuclear power. It is an answer that countries like Finland,


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