International voices

Climate activists warn of nuclear power renaissance

Pichetto Fratin launched a nuclear power offensive in Italy and is committed to the risky energy source. Weidel and billionaire Musk (who recently caused irritation with an ambiguous gesture) also discussed a possible return to nuclear power during their phone call.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP//Andreas Solaro, EPA/Hannibal Hanscke, Hans Klaus Techt/APA/picturedesk.com, AFP/Angela Weiss)

A risky game with unclear rules at our borders is a cause for concern! Because more and more countries are returning to nuclear energy. Trump-Initimus Musk is fueling this!

In Temelín, the site of the Czech nuclear power plant with two reactors in operation, plans for the construction of a so-called Small Modular Reactor (SMR) are set to become reality. But instead of a technological vision of the future, the project - according to Greenpeace boss Alex Egit - shows one thing above all: a return to the well-known problems of nuclear energy - coupled with new safety risks.

With the return to nuclear energy, we are experiencing a return to familiar problems coupled with new safety risks.

Alexander Egit, Greenpeace-Geschäftsführer

The ongoing environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project leaves crucial questions unanswered. GLOBAL 2000 criticizes the fact that a clear design as well as information on the number of planned reactors is being concealed. Instead, four unfinished designs are cited - including the BWRX-300, whose approval in Canada is still pending, and the NUWARD, whose development has already been discontinued due to cost explosions. Even the reactor's planned output of 500 MW exceeds the International Atomic Energy Agency's definition of SMRs.

Prague argues that it is relying on nuclear power to compensate for the phase-out of coal. However, experts such as Patricia Lorenz from GLOBAL 2000 believe this is illusory: "The planning and construction times of 15 to 20 years are in stark contrast to the urgency of the energy transition." Alternatives such as renewable energies are left out.

Facts about nuclear power

• China is the country that relies most heavily on (conventional) nuclear power plants. The latest plan envisages 44 new reactors humming away over the next eight years.
• Russia and India follow in second and third place. But construction is also underway in Egypt and Turkey.
• The new SMRs are expected to cover 25 percent of the UK's electricity needs with nuclear power by 2050. The current figure is 15 percent.
• Rolls-Royce, based in Derby, is a leader in the construction of mini-nuclear power plants. Google and Amazon as well as Bill Gates-Microsoft are showing interest.
• A mini-reactor has an output of 470 megawatts. That would be enough for around one million households.

However, the uncritical resumption of nuclear energy is receiving prominent support. Tech billionaire Elon Musk and AfD leader Alice Weidel praise nuclear power as a "great" source of electricity - without addressing the immense investment costs or the risks of accidents and natural disasters. Musk's criticism of Germany's nuclear phase-out shows a dangerous transfiguration: a complex problem like the energy transition requires more than simple answers.

Bad news from the boot of Europe too
"The plans in Temelín could be a warning sign for the renaissance of nuclear power - promising on paper, but expensive, risky and full of unresolved questions. Whether this is really the future remains highly questionable," warns WWF nuclear expert Dr. Reinhard Uhrig! Bad news also from the boot of Europe: Italy wants to finalize a plan by the end of 2027 that will allow the use of nuclear energy again after it was banned almost 40 years ago. This was confirmed by Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. "We are definitely ready to return to nuclear energy." This is an important decision that will not replace renewable energies, but complement them!